a ^3  u ji> 

n.S  V/.  \3'3 

The  University  of  Oregon  Bulletin 

New  Series  AUGUST  1,  1916  Vol.  XIII  No.  13 


The  Culture  and  Manufacture  of 
Flax  for  Fibre  and  Seed 

With  Special  Reference  to  the  Industry  in  Oregon 


Climatic  Conditions  and  Advantages  of  Oregon 


Production,  Demand,  Freights,  Markets, 
Prices,  Profits,  Expert  Opinion,  Conditions 
in  Foreign  Countries 


Issued  by  the 

Department  of  Commercial  and  Industrial  Service 
University  of  Oregon  School  of  Commerce 
H.  B.  MILLER,  Director 


Compiled  by  J.  FREDERIC  THORNE 


378 


Published  semi  - monthly  by  the  UNIVERSITY  OF  OREGON,  and  entered  at  the  postoffice  at 
Eugene,  Oregon,  as  second-class  matter 


THE  CULTURE  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF 
FLAX  FOR  FIBRE  AND  SEED 

With  Special  Reference  to  the  Industry  in  Oregon 


Climatic  Conditions  and  Advantages  of  Oregon 


Production,  Demand,  Freights,  Markets,  Prices, 
Profits,  Expert  Opinions,  and  the  Conditions 
in  Foreign  Countries 


Issued  by  the 

Department  of  Commercial  and  Industrial  Service 
University  of  Oregon  School  of  Commerce 
H.  B.  MILLER,  Director 


Compiled  by  J.  FREDERIC  THORNE 


HONORABLE  JAMES  D.  WITHYCOMBE,  GOVERNOR  OF  OREGON,  INSPECTING  FLAX  FIELD  NEAR  SALEM,  OREGON, 

STATE  FLAX  PROJECT 


The  following  world  survey  of  and  report  on 
the  culture  and  manufacture  of  flax  with  special 
reference  to  the  establishment  of  the  industry  in 
Oregon,  was  made  by  the  Department  of  Commer- 
cial and  Industrial  Service,  School  of  Commerce, 
University  of  Oregon,  at  the  special  request  and 
under  the  auspices  of  the  flax  committee  of  the 
Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  is  published 
by  the  University  of  Oregon  at  the  committee’s 
request. 

This  committee  consists  of  Dr.  E.  A.  Pierce, 
chairman;  William  McMurray,  passenger  agent  of 
the  O.-W.  R.  & N.  Ry. ; William  Lipman  of  Lipman, 
Wolfe  & Company;  and  H.  B.  Miller,  director  of  the 
School  of  Commerce,  University  of  Oregon. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  and  appreciation  ex- 
pressed to  the  United  States  Departments  of  State 
and  of  Commerce  for  the  great  and  invaluable 
assistance  rendered  in  collecting  the  material  upon 
which  a large  part  of  this  report  is  based. 


Copies  of  bulletins  issued  by  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  giving  details  of  planting,  growing  and  care  of 
flax  will  be  sent  to  those  who  are  interested  and  who  make 
application  to  the  School  of  Commerce,  University  of  Oregon. 


EXPERIMENT  BULLETINS 
The  School  of  Commerce  of  the  University  of  Oregon  has 
copies  of  the  bulletins  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and 
Technical  Instruction  for  Ireland,  giving  detailed  reports  of 
the  experiments  of  the  following  varieties  of  seeds:  Dutch, 
Riga,  Dutch  Child  from  Canada,  Riga  Child  from  France, 
Yorkshire  seed',  Pernau  Crown,  Rega  Child  from  Ireland,  Per- 
nau  Child  from  Michigan,  United  States,  a strain  seed,  which 
though  originally  improved  by  selection  for  seed  production 
purposes  is  thought  would,  owing  to  its  remarkable  evenness 
of  growth,  yield  a satisfactory  return  of  fibre.  Small  plots 
of  Japanese,  Siberian,  Canadian  Common,  and  Argentine  seed 
were  also  experimented  with. 

Copies  of  experiments  with  fertilizers  in  different  kinds  of 
soil  and  the  different  varieties  of  seed  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  of  Ireland  will  also  be  provided  on  request. 


4 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


OREGON  ADVANTAGES 

Investigation  demonstrates  and  the  opinions  of  experts  confirm  the 
fact  that  Western  Oregon,  and  especially  the  Willamette  Valley,  pos- 
sesses natural  advantages  for  growing  and  manufacturing  flax  equal 
to  those  of  any  other  section  of  the  world,  even  rivalling  the  famous 
Courtrai  district  of  Belgium  for  flax  culture,  and  having  climatic 
conditions  for  manufacture  as  good  as  those  of  Ireland. 

The  three  elements  that  comprise  these  advantages  are  soil,  water 
and  climate — not  singly  but  in  combination. 

Soil — The  Department  of  Agriculture  says:  “The  soils  on  which 
fibre  flax  are  to  be  planted  should  be  of  such  nature  that  good  drainage 
is  afforded,  as  the  plants  will  not  endure  severe  inundation.  At  the 
same  time  the  soil  should  have  good  water-retaining  capacity.  A 
gently  sloping  field  having  a loam  soil  with  clay  subsoil  is  suitable, 
provided  it  is  in  a good  state  of  fertility  and  is  free  from  weeds.” 

Western  Oregon  has  thousands  of  acres  of  such  soil  and  much  of 
it  has  been  passed  upon  by  experts  and  declared  to  be  as  good  as  any 
in  Belgium  or  other  flax  producing  countries. 

Water — The  second  element  is  water  of  the  kind  proper  for  the 
necessary  retting  of  the  flax.  Eugene  Bosse,  the  Belgian  expert  says: 
“Belgium  has  one  river,  the  Lys,  especially  suitable  for  flax  retting, 
while  in  Western  Oregon  every  river  is,  practically,  the  equal  of  the 
Lys.”  Water  for  retting  needs  to  be  soft  and  free  from  mineralization. 

Climate — The  Department  of  Agriculture  says:  “Fibre  flax  can 
best  be  grown  in  regions  where  moderately  cool,  damp  weather  prevails 
during  the  summer.  Sufficient  moisture  is  needed  to  enable  the  plants 
to  continue,  without  interruption,  their  growth  during  the  period  of 
elongation  of  the  stems.  And  it  is  desirable  that  there  should  be  little 
or  no  rainfall  during  the  ripening  period  and  harvesting  time.”  (July 
15  to  August  15  in  Oregon.) 

A moist  climate  also  is  necessary  for  the  best  results  in  manufac- 
turing. It  is  largely  the  climatic  conditions  that  have  made  Irish  man- 
ufactures of  linen  the  finest  in  the  world — and  those  conditions  are 
the  same  as  are  found  here.  In  fact  even  in  Belfast  it  often  is  found 
advisable  to  add  artificial  moisture  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  manu- 
facturing plants  to  get  the  desired  results.  Flax  fibre  or  thread,  woven 
in  a dry  climate,  will  be  greatly  inferior  to  exactly  the  same  material 
woven  under  proper  conditions  of  atmospheric  moisture. 

That  Western  Oregon  meets  all  these  conditions  and  has  all  these 
necessary  elements  is  evident. 

Transportation — Production  without  transportation  is  negation. 
Through  her  railroads  and  her  outlet  to  the  sea  by  way  of  Portland, 
Oregon  has  the  facilities  for  reaching  all  the  markets  of  the  world. 

An  Enormous  Area — Flax  grows  extremely  well  on  new  land  and 
is  one  of  the  best  crops  for  breaking  sod  and  making  it  suitable  for 
other  crops.  Thousands  of  acres  of  new  land  in  Oregon  are  being 
brought  into  the  market  for  cultivation  by  the  operations  of  the  log- 
ging industry  and  a large  part  of  this  enormous  area  is  suitable  for  flax 
culture  when  cleared  of  stumps. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


5 


In  Conjunction  with  Dairying — Dairying  and  the  cultivation  of  flax 
operate  to  balance  each  other  and  make  a combination  that  should  be 
profitable.  The  clover  and  vetch  crops  that  provide  the  fodder  for 
cattle  are  the  very  crops  that  restore  to  the  soil  the  nitrogen  that  is 
depleted  by  flax  growing.  The  greatest  demand  upon  the  soil  made  by 
flax  is  for  nitrogen — yet  one  crop  of  clover  will  restore  as  much  of 
this  element  as  is  taken  out  by  two  crops  of  flax.  The  herds  also  supply 
the  needed  fertilizing  material. 

On  the  other  hand,  flax  seed,  hulls  and  straw  all  are  good  stock 
foods,  the  seed  especially. 

Western  Oregon  is  especially  adapted  for  both  dairying  and  flax 
culture.  Conditions  become  even  more  favorable  when  both  are 
combined. 


Some  Expert  Opinions  on  the  Possibilities  of  Successful 
Flax  Growing  in  Oregon 

A report  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  states: 

“Flax  can  be  profitably  grown  in  the  Willamette  Valley  for  the  seed 
alone,  and  the  indications  are  that  the  fibre  production  would  be  of  no 
small  moment.  The  natural  fertility  of  the  soil  throughout  a large 
portion  of  the  valley  would  enable  the  farmer  to  grow  the  crop  without 
the  aid  of  commercial  fertilizers.  The  Pacific  Coast  samples,  submitted 
in  comparison  with  the  samples  grown  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
are  remarkably  fine,  and  if  such  straw  can  be  produced  economically 
we  need  not  be  troubled  concerning  future  supplies  of  the  fibre  for  the 
manufacture  of  fine  linen.  The  Oregon  samples  are  of  such  superb 
color  that,  if  river  retted  to  preserve  the  color,  the  fibre  would  resemble 
the  flax  of  Courtrai.  * * * The  samples  were  of  good  length, 

some  of  the  straw  quite  coarse  but  well  grown  and  cured  and  giving  an 
abundance  of  clean,  silky  fibre  of  superb  strength.  Well  prepared,  it 
would  make  a superior  fibre,  fit  for  fine  linen.  This  comes  the  nearest 
to  the  Courtrai  straw,  in  appearance,  of  any  examined  from  the  United 
States,  among  the  best  and  strongest  received.  * * * There  is  far 

less  percentage  of  woody  matter,  or  shive,  which  breaks  out  readily 
when  drawn  through  the  fingers,  leaving  a clean  ribbon,  or  filasse, 
that  is  soft,  glossy  and  very  strong.  * * * Oregon  conditions  are 

especially  desirable  for  the  growing  of  fine  flax.” 


The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  a bulletin  issued 
in  1897,  stated  that: 

“A  ton  of  flax  grown  in  the  Puget  Sound  region  of  Washington, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Office  of  Fibre  Investigation,  was  sent  to  a 
firm  of  famous  flax  manufacturers  in  Lisburn,  Ireland,  to  be  retted 
and  scutched  in  order  to  determine  the  grade  of  the  flax  so  produced. 
A very  superior  quality  was  produced,  resembling  that  of  the  famous 
Courtrai  region  of  Belgium.  With  the  Irish  report  was  received  a 
large  assortment  of  flax  samples,  the  best  fibre  of  which  is  valued  at 
$350  per  ton;  but  out  of  the  lot  sent  from  Washington,  fibre  was 
hackled  worth  $500  per  ton.  * * * It  is  significant  that  represen- 


6 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


tatives  of  Irish  spinning  mills  have  visited  the  Pacific  Coast  * * * 

and  speak  in  the  most  encouraging  terms  of  the  fitness  of  this  region 
for  the  growth  of  fine  flax.  * * * It  is  fully  demonstrated  that 
flax  of  the  best  quality  can  be  grown  in  this  country.” 


Professor  H.  T.  French,  of  the  Oregon  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station,  in  Bulletin  No.  43,  stated: 

“Some  forty  years  ago  there  was  a firm  organized  in  the 
Willamette  Valley  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  linen  twine  from 
the  flax  produced  on  the  farms  of  the  valley.  The  results  were  highly 
satisfactory  as  far  as  quality  of  product  was  concerned.  The  enterprise 
finally  was  abandoned  owing  to  fire,  bad  management  and  spiteful 
competition.  The  exhibits  of  flax  in  its  various  stages  of  preparation, 
made  by  this  firm  at  the  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia  in  1876, 
won  first  prizes  over  all  competitors,  the  other  exhibits  being  from  all 
the  flax  growing  countries  of  Europe  as  well  as  from  the  other  states 
of  the  Union.  The  samples  of  fibre  and  straw  from  Oregon  were  given 
first  place  by  all  the  nine  judges,  each  individual  passing  upon  the 
samples  separately  and  without  knowledge  of  the  action  of  the  other 
judges. 

“Our  climatic  conditions  are  very  much  the  same  as  those  which 
exist  in  the  great  flax  growing  districts  of  Europe.  A cool,  moist 
climate  during  the  growing  season  is  conceded  to  be  the  very  best 
natural  condition  for  the  most  rapid  and  healthy  development  of  the 
flax  plant.  The  crop  will  be  ready  to  harvest  from  August  1 to  15. 
During  this  time  there  is  no  danger  (in  Oregon)  of  injurious  rain 
storms.  From  all  the  information  at  our  command  there  seems  to  be 
no  doubt  as  to  the  adaptability  of  the  climatic  conditions  of  Western 
Oregon  and  Washington  to  the  growing  of  flax.” 


Dr.  H.  L.  Deimel,  president  of  the  Deimel  Linen-Mesh  Company  of 
New  York,  San  Francisco,  Detroit  and  Montreal,  and  one  of  the  most 
thorough  and  practical  flax  experts  in  this  country,  with  few  equals  in 
any  part  of  the  world,  says: 

“On  July  17,  1915,  I visited  flax  fields  about  Salem,  Oregon,  and 
was  amazed  at  the  general  uniformity  of  the  harvest.  In  the  older 
flax-growing  countries  it  has  to  be  selected  according  to  length,  as  it 
differs  so  materially.  In  the  flax  that  was  sent  to  me  years  ago  the 
same  uniform  length  was  noted  in  the  Oregon  flax  by  my  manager  of 
the  manufacturing  plant,  who  insisted  that  the  straw  sent  to  us  had 
been  selected  to  give  it  that  uniformity,  and  he  refused  to  believe  that 
it  had  not  been  selected  and  that  it  was  only  the  general  average. 
When  proof  was  furnished  that  it  was  not  selected  and  that  it  was  but 
an  average  of  the  Oregon  crop,  the  manager  was  astounded.  I am 
familiar  with  the  world’s  production  and  I am  confident  that  Oregon  can 
produce  flax  that  can  be  made  to  equal  the  best  in  the  world.  The 
difficulty  of  producing  a good  quality  of  flax  is  the  several  changes  in 
climatic  conditions  during  the  period  of  production.  A severe  dry  spell 
during  growing  time  produces  a knotty  condition  of  thread,  due  to  a 
variation  in  the  growth,  similar  to  the  variation  in  wool  due  to  a change 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


7 


in  feeding.  The  even  climate  of  Oregon  makes  possible  a very  fine 
quality.  The  uniformity  of  length  and  quality,  as  I observed  it  in  this 
year’s  growth  in  the  Salem  fields,  was  quite  a revelation  to  me  and  I 
think  it  will  produce  a thread  ranging  from  numbers  50  to  100 — or 
equal  to  the  best  Belgian.  I had  some  underwear  made  from  Oregon 
flax  some  twenty  years  ago,  and  the  garments  averaged  to  wear  twice 
as  long  as  those  made  from  flax  from  other  countries.  My  opinion  is 
that  Oregon  needs  especially  to  develop  the  science  of  production  and 
to  establish  a reputation,  because  the  value  will  depend  upon  a 
reputation  for  standard  and  uniform  quality.” 


Mr.  J.  C.  Cady,  who  has  had  charge  of  the  experimental  work  done 
by  the  State  of  Oregon  in  flax  culture  and  manufacture,  says: 

“In  my  opinion  both  the  soil  and  climate  of  Oregon  are  admirably 
adapted  to  the  growing  of  flax  of  a high  grade,  and,  also  having  the 
right  kind  of  water,  for  the  manufacture  of  the  fibre.  Oregon  flax 
compares  favorably  with  that  grown  anywhere  in  the  world.  We  can 
grow  just  as  fine  flax  in  Oregon  as  they  do  in  Belgium,  Ireland,  Russia 
or  elsewhere.” 


Mr.  J.  Sidney  Starling,  president  and  manager  of  the  Flaxen  Fibre- 
Down  Co.,  of  North  Tonawanda,  New  York,  in  a letter  dated  February 
17,  1916,  says: 

“The  writer  has  been  aware  for  some  time  past  that  the  climatic 
conditions  of  Oregon  are  especially  adapted  to  growing  fibre  flax.  We 
have  had  quantities  of  flax  straw  shipped  to  our  plant  from  every  state 
where  flax  is  grown  and  have  carefully  tested  and  tried  out  the  various 
fibre-bearing  qualities.  The  straw  received  from  the  states  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  produced  a much  larger  quantity  of  good  quality  fibre 
than  any  produced  elsewhere  in  other  states.  This  is  especially  true 
with  Oregon  flax.  Eastern  grown  flax  does  not  grow  nearly  so  well  nor 
so  thriftily  as  does  Pacific  Coast  grown  flax.  Oregon  fibre  is  much 
longer  and  stronger  than  we  grow  here,  in  addition  to  being  of  a much 
better  color.” 


(From  the  “Morning  Register,”  Eugene,  Oregon,  March  2,  1916) 

“Eugene  Bosse,  flax  expert,  spoke  at  considerable  length  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  crop. 

“ ‘Conditions  in  Oregon  are  ideal  for  the  production  of  flax  fibre  of 
the  highest  grade,’  said  Mr.  Bosse.  ‘Your  soil,  your  climate  and  your 
water  are  all  suitable  for  profitable  production  of  this  crop.  It  is  not 
an  experiment,  and  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  go  into  the  enterprise  with 
the  determination  to  do  it  right.  One  of  the  advantages  of  flax  is  that 
it  is  a reliable  crop.  I know,  for  I have  been  in  the  business  for  fifty 
years  and  in  that  time  I have  seen  but  one  crop  failure.  That  was  in 
1864,  and  the  cause  was  too  much  rain. 

“Oregon  Water  Suitable — ‘Just  to  emphasize  the  excellence  of  con- 
ditions in  the  Willamette  Valley  for  the  growing  of  flax  fibre,  let  me 
point  out  the  water  situation.  In  all  of  Europe  there  is  but  one  river — 


8 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


the  river  Lys,  in  Belgium — whose  waters  are  wholly  suitable  for  the 
retting  of  flax,  but  in  the  Willamett©  Valley  all  of  your  rivers  are 
perfectly  suited  to  this  purpose.’ 

“Mr.  Bosse  explained  that  for  retting  flax  soft  water  that  has  not 
been  mineralized  is  a necessary  requisite. 

“An  important  detail  in  the  growing  of  flax,  he  said,  is  proper 
preparation  of  the  ground.  It  must  be  put  in  the  best  of  condition,  and 
a seed  bed  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible  must  be  provided. 

“Eugene  Complimented — Dr.  E.  A.  Pierce,  chairman  of  the  flax 
committee  of  the  Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce,  told  of  the  efforts 
that  have  been  made  to  promote  the  growing  of  flax  in  the  Willamette 
Valley,  and  complimented  the  Eugene  Chamber  on  the  promptness  with 
which  it  took  hold  of  the  offer  of  cooperation  from  Portland. 

“Hon.  H.  B.  Miller,  director  of  the  University  School  of  Commerce, 
told  of  the  research  into  the  flax  industry  that  has  been  made  by  his 
department,  and  grew  enthusiastic  as  he  sketched  the  outlook  for  the 
future. 

“ ‘I  know,’  he  said,  ‘that  Mr.  Bosse  is  certain  that  the  finest  fibre 
in  the  world  can  be  grown  here,  but  even  leaving  that  out  of  considera- 
tion the  prospects  for  flax  growers  are  bright.  New  uses  for  the  cheaper 
grades  of  fiber  are  being  continually  found,  and  the  market  is  widening 
rapidly  as  the  product  is  being  employed  more  extensively  in  the 
industries.  The  seed  and  the  tow  alone  assure  a profit.’ 

“Present  Outlook  Good — In  response  to  an  inquiry,  Mr.  Miller 
explained  that  the  reason  the  flax  outlook  now  is  so  much  brighter  than 
at  any  time  in  the  20  years  in  which  efforts  have  been  made  to  stimulate 
the  industry  in  Oregon  is  because  of  changed  conditions.  The  war  has 
assured  a market  at  high  prices  for  several  years  to  come,  he  said,  and 
this  will  give  time  to  get  the  business  well  established.  Increasing 
uses  for  the  cheaper  grades  of  fibre  are  also  a contributing  factor. 

“Frank  C.  Miles,  flax  expert  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and 
an  authority  on  flax,  said  there  is  no  doubt  that  fibre  of  the  highest 
grade  can  be  produced  here. 

“Oregon  Climate  Right — ‘Your  climate.,’  said  Mr.  Miles,  ‘is  pecu- 
liarly suited  to  the  growing  of  fibre  flax.  You  have  plenty  of  moisture 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  crop  and  you  have  consistently  dry  weather 
at  harvest  time.  These  conditions  are  essential.’ 

“ ‘Farmer’  Smith,  O.-W.  R.  & N.  agriculturist,  was  introduced  as  a 
man  who  cannot  talk  on  any  topic  without  dragging  in  corn,  and  lived 
up  to  his  reputation  by  asserting  that  the  best  way  to  prepare  for  a flax 
crop  was  by  growing  a crop  of  corn  on  the  land.  He  urged  flax  growing 
as  a means  toward  further  diversification,  declaring  that  diversified 
industry  is  the  salvation  of  all  farming  communities. 

“Professor  G.  H.  Hyslop,  of  the  Oregon  Agricultural  College,  said 
that  experiments  conducted  at  the  college  have  demonstrated  conclu- 
sively that  flax,  even  if  grown  for  the  seed  alone,  is  a profitable  crop. 
He  went  somewhat  into  detail  as  to  proper  methods  of  growing,  laying 
particular  stress  upon  rotation. 

“Proper  Rotation  Necessary — ‘Flax,’  said  he,  ‘should  not  be  grown 
for  several  consecutive  years  on  the  same  land,  and  the  best  results  are 
obtained  by  rotation  systems  bringing  in  a crop  of  flax  about  every 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


9 


five  or  six  years.  This  is  due  to  soil  diseases  induced  by  flax  rather 
than  to  soil  exhaustion,  for  flax  is  no  more  exhausting  to  the  soil  than 
the  average  grain  crop.  Careful  treating  of  the  seed  before  planting  is 
essential.’ 

“The  interest  of  the  railroads  in  the  growing  of  flax  and  their  readi- 
ness to  lend  all  the  assistance  in  their  power  were  told  by  Wm.  McMur- 
ray,  general  passenger  agent  of  the  O.-W.  R.  & N. ; H.  A.  Hinshaw, 
general  freight  agent  of  the  S.  P.  lines  in  Oregon,  and  D.  C.  Freeman, 
publicity  agent  of  the  Oregon-Electric.” 


A PROMISING  INDUSTRY 

(Editorial  from  “Morning  Register,”  Eugene,  Oregon,  March  2,  1916) 

“The  effort  to  bring  about  the  planting  of  several  hundred  acres  of 
flax  in  the  vicinity  of  Eugene  this  spring  ought  to  be  successful.  The 
crop  is  not  a risky  one,  for  even  if  the  fibre  could  not  be  sold  at  all  the 
seed,  at  present  prices,  would  yield  a return  equal  to  wheat  or  oats. 
Nor  does  the  planting  of  flax  require  a heavy  investment  for  new 
machinery,  for  the  crop  is  put  out  and  harvested  almost  exactly  like  the 
grain  crops  that  are  now  grown  here.  Therefore,  the  experiment  does 
not  mean  the  learning  of  new  farming  methods  or  the  employment  of  a 
new  class  of  labor. 

“Exhaustive  investigation  has  established  the  fact  that  Western 
Oregon  is  better  adapted  to  the  growing  of  a high  grade  flax  fibre  than 
any  other  section  of  the  United  States,  and  competent  experts  do  not 
hesitate  to  assert  that  fibre  can  be  produced  here  that  will  equal  the  best 
grown  in  Belgium  and  Northern  France — which,  up  to  the  present  time, 
have  been  the  sources  of  the  best  fibre  in  the  world.  Soil,  water  and 
climate  combine  here  for  the  production  of  a high  quality  of  fibre. 

“The  growing  of  flax  is  not  new  to  many  of  the  people  who  will  be 
asked  to  put  out  an  experimental  crop  this  spring.  Many  Oregon  farm- 
ers have  grown  flax  here,  and  many  who  have  come  to  Oregon  from  the 
Middle  West  are  quite  familiar  with  it,  for  flax  is  an  important  crop  in 
many  of  the  states  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  There  is  an  essential 
difference,  however,  in  the  experiment  that  is  proposed  here  and  the 
way  in  which  flax  has  hitherto  been  grown  in  this  country,  for  the  pro- 
duction of  fibre  is  to  be  an  important  object. 

“While  flax  is  grown  extensively  in  the  Middle  West,  the  seed  is 
the  only  product  of  much  value  there,  for  the  climatic  and  soil  condi- 
tions are  not  right  for  the  production  of  high-grade  fibre.  In  Western 
Oregon,  however,  these  conditions  are  right,  and  there  seems  to  be 
little  doubt  that  fibre  from  which  the  finest  of  linen  can  be  made  may 
be  produced  here. 

“The  present  time  is  peculiarly  fortuitous  for  such  an  experiment. 
Hitherto  Belgium  and  Northern  France  have  been  the  great  sources  of 
supply  for  fine  flax  fibre,  and  it  is  there  that  the  great  Irish  mills  have 
secured  the  principal  part  of  their  raw  material.  But  Belgium  and 
Northern  France  are  now  in  ruins.  The  fertile  and  carefully  tended 
farms  where  flax  fibre  was  produced  have  been  fought  over,  back  and 
forth,  until  their  power  to  produce  crops  has  been  materially  lessened. 


10 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Many  of  the  people  have  been  killed  and  the  rest  have  been  driven 
from  their  homes.  Even  if  the  war  should  end  within  a short  time,  it 
will  be  years  before  these  sections  are  brought  back  to  full  productive 
capacity. 

“Meanwhile  flax  fibre  of  good  quality  must  be  secured  from  some- 
where if  the  manufacture  of  linen  is  to  continue.  It  has  been  definitely 
proved  that  Western  Oregon  can  produce  fibre  of  the  best  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  the  growing  of  flax  should  not  become  an  important 
industry  here.  The  Willamette  Valley  greatly  needs  new  and  profitable 
crops,  and  there  ought  to  be  no  hesitation  about  trying  the  experiment 
that  is  proposed.  There  is  nothing  to  lose,  for  the  seed  alone  will 
equal  ordinary  hay  and  grain  crops,  and  there  is  much  to  gain  by  the 
establishment  of  a new  and  profitable  industry.” 


THE  EUGENE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  FLAX  PROJECT 

(By  S.  Dike  Hooper,  Secretary  Eugene  Chamber  of  Commerce) 

“Early  in  1916  the  Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce,  through  its 
flax  committee,  offered  the  services  of  a Belgian  flax  expert,  who  has 
made  a life  study  of  fibre  flax,  to  any  chamber  of  commerce  in  the 
valley  which  would  guarantee  to  arrange  for  the  seeding,  harvesting 
and  manufacture  of  fibre  on  a sufficiently  large  scale  to  test  the  crop 
thoroughly.  The  Eugene  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  accepted  this 
proposal,  and  entered  into  reciprocal  relations  with  the  Portland  Cham- 
ber on  a cooperative  basis,  looking  toward  the  scientific  conduct  of  a 
thorough  experiment. 

“Many  of  the  more  experienced  farmers  of  the  Willamette  Valley 
have  successfully  raised  flax  for  seed  purposes  in  years  gone  by,  and 
the  fibre  movement  has  met  with  a very  cordial  reception.  The  sowing 
of  200  acres  has  been  definitely  arranged,  and  the  erection  of  a fibre 
mill  to  care  for  this  product  is  assured.  The  ‘water  retting’  process 
will  be  employed  exclusively,  conclusive  tests  having  demonstrated  the 
fitness  of  the  Willamette  Valley  waters  for  this  purpose. 

“All  lands  offered  for  flax  culture  were  carefully  examined  by  the 
expert  in  charge,  and  a great  many  tracts  were  rejected  principally  on 
the  grounds  of  foulness,  weeds,  improper  preparation  the  preceding 
In  the  selection  of  lands  the  expert  has  given  preference  to  small 
tracts  of  varying  soil  characteristics  so  that  the  tests  may  be  as  com- 
prehensive as  possible.  The  theory  is  that  a few  acres  will  receive 
better  preparation,  more  attention  during  the  growing  season,  and  be 
more  easily  harvested  at  the  right  time  than  a large  tract.  Another 
important  consideration  is  that  small  individual  plantings  will  afford 
an  opportunity  to  a larger  proportion  of  the  farmers  who  wish  to 
conduct  the  experiment  than  any  other  arrangement. 

“The  amount  of  money  estimated  as  necessary  to  carry  the  plans 
to  a successful  conclusion  is  $12,000,  which  will  be  advanced  as  needed 
by  the  Eugene  Chamber  of  Commerce.  This  sum  will  cover  everything 
excepting  the  expert’s  salary,  which  has  been  assumed  by  the 
Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  plan  under  which  the  flax  is 
being  planted  is,  in  brief,  as  follows:  The  Eugene  Chamber  furnishes 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


11 


at  cost  the  highest  grade  fibre  flax  seed  for  which  payment  may  be* 
made  after  the  crop  is  harvested.  The  soil  is  then  prepared  under  the 
direction  of  the  expert,  who  will  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  crop 
during  the  growing  period  and  dictate  the  time  and  manner  of  harvesting. 
The  growers  will  deliver  the  straw  at  the  plant,  where  due  credit  will 
be  given  each  grower,  based  on  the  tonnage  delivered.  The  proceeds 
from  the  sale  of  seed,  fibre  and  tow  will  be  disbursed  in  the  following 
manner:  First,  the  growers  will  receive  $7.50  per  acre  to  partly 

cover  the  cost  of  seed,  preparation  of  land,  labor,  etc.  Beyond  this 
point  the  net  proceeds  will  be  divided  equally  between  the  chamber  of 
commerce  and  growers  until  the  chamber  recovers  the  sum  advanced 
for  flax  purposes.  The  balance  of  the  receipts  will  go  to  the  growers. 

“This  experiment  is  of  especial  interest  as  an  illustration  of  the 
growing  recognition  by  both  business  men  and  the  farmers  of  the 
partnership  which  must  always  exist  between  persons  in  whatever  field 
of  endeavor  who  draw  their  support  from  the  same  community.  The 
fundamental  principles  of  cooperation  involved  are  broad  and  pro- 
gressive and  the  outcome  will  be  observed  with  great  interest  by 
representatives  of  commercial  and  agricultural  interests  in  all  parts 
of  the  country. 

“April  27,  1916.” 

(Since  the  above  was  written  the  200  acres  near  Eugene  have  been  planted 
to  flax  under  Mr.  Bosse’s  supervision,  the  building  for  the  mill  rented  and  the 
machinery  shipped  from  Salem  to  Eugene.  By  the  time  this  bulletin  is  issued 
this  machinery  will  be  installed  ready  for  use,  and  the  retting  tanks  built.  At 
this  date,  June  1,  the  crop  is  making  a very  excellent  showing.  The  Eugene 
Chamber  of  Commerce  recently  has  elected  George  Quayle  as  secretary  of  the 
Chamber  and  manager  of  the  flax  industry  in  Eugene.) 


EXTRACT  FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  PRESIDENT  COLT,  OF 
PORTLAND  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 

“A  fair  share  of  the  credit  for  developing  high  grade  flax  fibre 
possibilities  in  the  Willamette  Valley  belongs  to  a sub-committee  of 
the  Trade  and  Commerce  Bureau  known  as  the  ‘Flax  Development 
Committee,’  of  which  Dr.  E.  A.  Pierce  is  the  chairman.  This  committee 
is  really  a joint  committee  operating  with  the  Oregon  Development 
Bureau.  The  work  of  this  committee  is  entitled  to  special  mention 
because  of  the  evident  importance  and  profitable  opportunity  for  the 
Willamette  Valley  and  possibly  one  or  two  other  parts  of  Western 
Oregon.  For  many  years  we  have  contended  that  high  grade  fibre  flax 
could  be  grown  in  Western  Oregon. 

“To  prove  conclusively  that  the  farmer  of  average  ability  can  grow 
fibre  flax  at  a profit,  our  flax  committee,  representing  the  chamber  of 
commerce  has  entered  into  an  arrangement  with  the  Eugene  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  As  a result,  about  two  hundred  acres  of  flax  will  be 
planted  under  the  directions  of  the  best  man  available  for  supervision 
of  such  work.  By  the  terms  of  this  agreement,  the  Eugene  people 
agree  to  provide  necessary  funds  for  establishing  a retting  plant 
equipped  with  the  necessary  tanks  and  machinery.  It  is  estimated  that 
it  will  be  necessary  to  raise  approximately  $5,000  in  Eugene.  This 
chamber  of  commerce  has  agreed  to  furnish  $1,000  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  the  salary  of  the  flax  expert  for  a period  of  ten  months. 


12 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


“If  it  is  proven  by  this  experiment,  or  demonstration,  that  the 
farmer  of  average  ability  can  grow  high  grade  fibre  at  a profit,  it  is 
more  than  likely,  in  fact  it  is  certain,  that  thousands  of  acres  will  be 
planted  the  following  year.  This  is  bound  to  result  in  the  establish- 
ment of  flax  spinning  and  linen  industries  either  in  Portland  or  the 
Willamette  Valley. 

“Conditions  are  such  in  Europe  as  will  cause  linen  manufacturers 
of  Ireland  and  elsewhere,  and  flax  growers  of  Belgium  to  come  to 
Oregon  if  the  raw  material  can  be  produced  here.  While  there  is  a 
possibility  that  the  result  of  the  year’s  experiment  at  Eugene  will  not 
be  all  that  is  hoped  for,  those  who  have  given  the  matter  the  closest 
study  are  confident  that  the  results  will  be  all  that  is  anticipated  and 
that  linen  manufacturing  industries  will,  within  a very  few  years,  be 
located  in  this  vicinity. 

“In  this  connection,  it  is  cited  that  flax  fibre  from  Russia  could 
easily  be  brought  to  the  manufacturing  industries  located  in  Portland.” 


THE  OREGON  STATE  FLAX  PROJECT 

(Statement  by  Governor  James  D.  Withycombe) 

“For  the  purpose  of  providing  employment  for  the  inmates  of  the 
Oregon  State  Penitentiary  the  1915  Legislature  appropriated  the  sum 
of  $50,000,  part  to  be  used  in  establishing  and  maintaining  a flax 
plant  at  the  penitentiary  in  which  prison  labor  might  be  utilized. 
About  $35,000  of  this  appropriation  was  expended  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  flax  industry,  $10,000  of  which  was  invested  in  the  plant 
and  the  balance  for  the  purchasing  of  flax  straw,  etc. 

“The  State  purchased  500  bushels  of  Riga  seed,  grown  in  Michigan, 
and  150  bushels  of  seed  imported  from  Riga,  Russia.  This  seed  was 
sold  to  farmers  at  $2.50  per  bushel.  The  crop  from  the  seed  was 
pulled  by  convict  labor  and  purchased  by  the  State  at  $15.00  per  ton, 
delivered  at  the  penitentiary.  Six  hundred  thirty-seven  bushels  of 
seed  were  sown  on  35  7 acres  of  land  and  yielded  468  tons  of  straw 
and  2,235  bushels  of  seed.  The  maximum  production  per  acre  was  four 
tons,  running  down  as  low  as  one  ton  per  acre. 

“Results  of  last  season  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  a fair  average 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  movement  was  started  rather  late  in 
the  season  with  the  consequence  that  the  farmers  had  already  sown 
the  most  of  their  best  land  to  other  crops  and  much  of  the  flax  was 
sown  on  rather  poorly  prepared  land,  unsuitable  for  the  crop.  Farmers 
should  have  no  difficulty  under  good  cultural  methods  in  producing  at 
least  two  tons  of  straw  per  acre. 

“Sufficient  data  as  yet  are  unavailable  as  to  the  total  production 
of  fibre  from  the  straw  produced  from  last  year’s  crop.  However, 
from  present  indications  it  will  yield  approximately  4 6 tons  of  fibre 
divided  about  equally  between  hackled  flax  and  No.  1 and  No.  2 tow. 

“There  is  no  question  as  to  the  very  high  quality  of  flax  produced 
in  Western  Oregon,  but  there  are  numerous  problems  yet  to  be  worked 
out,  including  labor,  systems  for  retting  and  disposal  of  product. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


12 


The  State  has  established  an  excellent  plant,  employing,  when 
operated  to  its  full  capacity,  one  hundred  men.  This  plant  is  capable 
of  handling  2,000  tons  of  straw  annually  and  it  is  anticipated  that 
about  1,200  tons  will  be  produced  in  the  vicinity-  of  the  penitentiary 
this  season.” 


OBSERVATIONS  BY  DR,  H.  L.  DEIMEL 

As  regards  the  production  and  manufacture  of  flax  fibre,  Dr.  H.  L. 
Deimel,  president  of  the  Deimel  Linen-Mesh  Company,  of  New  York, 
San  Francisco,  Detroit  and  Montreal,  unquestionably  is  one  of  the 
most  thorough,  practical  experts  in  this  country,  with  few  equals  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  The  Deimel  Company  has  factories  at  Duren,  Rhe- 
nish Prussia,  near  the  Belgian  border  and  close  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and 
in  England,  under  the  name  of  the  Deimel  Fabric  Company,  at  Stoke- 
Newington,  for  weaving  and  garment  making.  Dr.  Deimel  is  the  owner 
of  all  the  stock  of  both  the  English  and  the  German  companies,  and  he 
is,  therefore,  as  much  interested,  practically,  in  the  cultivation  of  flax 
and  a knowledge  of  the  locations  where  the  best  fibre  can  be  obtained 
and  the  methods  of  its  production,  as  in  its  manufacture. 

Dr.  Deimel’s  knowledge  is  founded  upon  observation  and  experience, 
and  he  states  that  some  fifteen  years  ago  he  procured  from  the  Oregon 
Flax  Fibre  Association  a lot  of  prepared  flax  which  was  sent  to  his 
associates  in  Duren,  Germany,  for  spinning  into  as  high  a lea  of  yarn 
as  the  quality  might  justify.  This  proved  to  be  No.  50  warp,  which, 
while  not  a very  high  number,  yet  requires  a fibre  of  superior  evenness 
and  good  strength.  Continuing,  he  said:  “I  used  this  yarn  in  the 
manufacture  of  my  No.  50  linen  cloth.  Suits  of  this  I sent  to  a number 
of  my  friends,  some  of  them  in  Oregon,  besides  giving  some  of  the 
garments  a personal  test.  They  gave  uniform  satisfaction,  especially 
so  from  a wearing  point  of  view,  showing  that  the  flax  had  not  been 
overspun.  I had  requested  that  an  average  quality  of  flax  should  be 
shipped,  but  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Louis  Buckless,  of  Duren,  who  had 
attended  the  spinning,  I was  told  that  the  flax  was  of  such  uniform 
length  that  it  could  not  have  possibly  grown  that  way,  but  must  have 
been  specially  selected.  This  was  strongly  contradicted  by  Mr.  Bosse, 
who  made  the  shipment,  and  I am  of  the  opinion,  that,  if  Mr.  Buckless 
could  have  inspected  with  me,  this  summer,  the  fields  of  flax  around 
Salem,  he  would  have  withdrawn  his  statement.  Personally  I never 
saw  a field  of  flax  of  such  uniform  height. 

“There  is  a general  deterioration  in  the  quality  of  flax  produced  in 
all  European  countries — a gradual  lowering  of  quality.  Because  of 
this,  Oregon  flax  will  have  a long  period  of  being  the  best  quality — if 
quality  is  established  and  carefully  maintained.  Belgian  flax  is  superior 
to  all  others  in  elasticity  and  strength  for  spinning. 

“Constant  opening  up  of  new  land  in  Oregon  will  give  the  best  kind 
of  land  for  flax  for  many  years  to  come,  while  land  in  other  countries 
is  deteriorating. 


14 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


“There  has  been  a very  heavy  increase  in  the  market  price  of  flax 
during  the  past  seven  years,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  following  comparative 
statement  of  the  selling  prices  per  ton  of  four  different  qualities  of  flax 
fibre,  after  having  been  retted  and  scutched: 

Livonian  K.  Pernan  D.  Courtrai  Irish 


1908  £20  10s  £24  10s  £ 60  to  70  £45  to  60 

1909  23  26  5 70  to  78  60  to  70 

1911  26  29  10  90  to  110  85  to  105 

1915  60  68  *150  to  190  90  to  135 


£ equals  about  $4.80. 

“Oregon  flax  probably  would  range  between  Irish  and  CSurtrai — 
the  latter  being  the  best.  That  is,  it  would,  provided,  of  course,  that 
proper  processes  of  culture  and  manufacturing  were  used. 

“Courtrai  flax  is  the  best  in  the  world  at  present.  But  the  product 
is  best  when  the  Courtrai  is  taken  to  Belfast  to  manufacture  into  thread. 
All  the  best  thread  and  yarn  is  made  from  flax  grown  and  retted  in 
Belgium  and  spun  in  Belfast.  The  climatic  conditions  in  Belfast 
together  with  concentration  of  skilled  labor,  is  the  reason  for  its  supe- 
riority, as  certain  humidity  in  the  atmosphere  is  necessary  for  proper 
spinning  of  the  yarn.  While  they  have  introduced  the  moist  spray  in 
factories  producing  yarn  and  use  it  even  in  Belfast,  the  humidity  of  the 
natural  atmosphere  still  is  a very  important  factor.  Indeed  this  is  a 
very  important  factor. 

“The  flax  I buy  is  grown,  retted  and  scutched  in  Belgium,  spun  into 
yarn  and  thread  in  Belfast  and  manufactured  into  underwear  in  Bel- 
gium, Germany,  England,  Canada  and  the  United  States. 

“Russian  flax  is  not  equal  to  Belgian.  It  is  strong  but  not  fine. 
Austrians  produce  in  their  linen  the  finest  damask,  from  the  artistic 
point  of  view.  They  have  more  art  instinct  than  Ireland.  Therefore 
Irish  linens  are  not  equal  to  Austrian,  artistically  considered.  But 
Austrian  flax  is  not  equal  to  Irish  in  its  durability. 

“The  flax  produced  in  Europe  now  ranges  in  number  from  Nos.  15 
to  250,  but  80  per  cent  of  all  flax  used  is  between  15  and  50,  for  spin- 
ning. There  is  hardly  any  use  for  common  purposes  above  No.  100. 
The  Pope’s  robe  is  made  out  of  No.  250  and  cost  $5.00  per  yard.  I 
use  from  Nos.  50  to  80,  mixed  with  fine  Egyptian  cotton.  The  purpose 
of  mixture  is  to  give  more  elasticity  to  the  thread. 

“The  usual  normal  price  paid  for  the  straw  is  from  20  to  26  pounds 
sterling  ($96.80  to  $125.84)  per  ton  for  Russian,  and  55  to  60  pounds 
($266.20  to  $290.40)  for  the  Belgian;  Irish  from  40  to  45  pounds 
($193.00  to  $217.80).’’ 

Dr.  Deimel  stated  that  he  purchases  annually  at  present  for  all  his 
companies’  products  in  all  countries  about  $800,000  worth  of  raw 
material  in  the  shape  of  flax  yarns,  and  he  sells  only  in  Great  Britain, 
France,  Canada  and  the  United  States;  that  portion  of  his  products 
which  went,  heretofore,  to  Germany,  was  exported  from  England.  The 
output  of  his  factories  in  recent  years  has  been  limited,  not,  however, 
by  the  demand,  but  by  his  ability  to  get  a proper  supply  of  those  quali- 
ties of  material  needed  at  reasonable  prices,  and  by  “reasonable”  he 
said  he  meant  as  compared  with  values  up  to  ten  or  twelve  years  ago. 


* This  is  the  price  quoted  in  Rotterdam. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


15 


Quoting  prices,  the  doctor  said:  “If  the  average  price  per  bundle  of 
60,000  yards  of  yarn  has  been  5s  T^d  ($1.35),  I now  pay  9s  l^d 
($2.19);  that  is,  for  what  may  be  called  superior  linen  warp.  The 
manufacture  of  thread  costs  me  $2.50  per  88  pounds  of  yarn,  including 
all  spooling,  etc.,  and  labor.  Of  this,  the  direct  labor  cost  would  be 
about  $2.25.  There  is  less  than  1 per  cent  of  waste. 

“In  Germany,  the  girls  who  make  thread  are  paid  7 5 cents  to  90 
cents  per  day,  while  in  small  places  in  Germany  the  women  get  45 
cents  a day  as  against  65  cents  in  Duren,  which  is  a high  wage  district. 
In  Ireland,  the  girls  get  40  cents  to  50  cents  per  day.  Men  textile  work- 
ers receive  75  cents  to  $1.15  in  Germany.  In  the  United  States,  female 
help  is  one-third  higher  than  in  England  and  40  to  50  per  cent  higher 
than  on  the  Continent,  while  male  help  in  the  United  States  is  fully 
100  per  cent  higher  than  on  the  Continent  and  50  to  75  per  cent  higher 
than  in  England.  I make  it  a rule  to  employ  only  natives  of  the  count- 
try — Englishmen  in  England,  Germans  in  Germany,  and  Americans  in 
the  United  States.  I manufacture  thread,  weave  underwear,  towels, 
corset  covers,  bandages,  supporters,  etc.  I have  not  bought  any  straw 
or  fibre,  but  contemplate  doing  so.  My  associates  own  spinning  mills 
in  Germany  and  employ  about  2,200  flax  spinners.  Most  of  the  flax 
that  I use  comes  from  the  Courtrai  district  of  Belgium. 

“For  retting  and  scutching,  Belgian  labor  is  the  most  efficient, 
because  of  development  of  the  community  spirit  and  home  industrial 
life.  The  best  work,  which  produces  the  best  results  comes  from  Bel- 
gium-— better  than  the  same  class  of  work  done  in  Ireland.  Spinning 
labor  is  all  that  the  United  States  must  import;  other  classes  of  labor 
can  be  developed  with  American  labor.  For  beginning,  Belgians  would 
have  to  be  used  for  other  processes,  until  labor  here  learned  how. 

“The  flax  industry  in  Russia  is  largely  in  the  Baltic  provinces,  and 
the  production  and  manufacture  is  a home  industry;  i.  e.,  in  the  homes 
of  the  people.  The  principle  of  the  whole  operation  is  the  labor 
problem. 

“In  Oregon,  the  labor  will  be  a serious  problem,  in  both  production 
and  manufacture;  not  merely  wages  but  also  settled  conditions  of  pro- 
duction and  manufacture.  The  special  skill  required  has  to  come  as  the 
product  of  continuous  effort  in  the  district.  It  must  be  part  of  the 
community  life — must  be  a ‘flax  atmosphere.’ 

“Artificial  drying  of  straw  is  as  good  as  the  sun,  as  far  as  fibre 
goes.  Flax  does  not  need  curing,  like  hay;  wetting  does  not  hurt,  but 
it  must  be  dry  to  be  put  through  the  breaker.  Our  retting  is  done  by 
the  farmer.  We  buy  rough  fibre,  after  retting  and  scutching.  Some  of 
the  flax  people  of  Ireland  are  considering  seriously  doing  the  retting 
and  scutching  for  themselves  at  a central  plant.  Retting  is  very 
important,  as,  if  it  is  carried  too  far,  the  fibre  is  attacked  and  weakened. 
Artificial  inoculation  of  water  for  retting  is  all  right. 

“In  Belgium,  there  is  a tendency  to  concentrate  the  retting  process 
along  the  river  Lys.  Oregon  district  should  have  a central  point  for 
retting,  so  as  to  give  the  product  uniformity.” 

Dr.  Deimel  stated,  further,  that  provided  the  production  of  good 
fibre  is  an  assured  and  stable  fact,  he,  together  with  his  friends,  would 
seriously  consider  the  establishment  in  Oregon  of  a spinning,  bleaching 


16 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


and  weaving  plant,  consuming  a minimum  of  2,000  tons  of  fibre  a year 
(the  product  of  3,000  to  4,000  acres)  and  employing  about  1,500  or 
1,600  people. 

The  doctor  added:  “I  have  been  thinking  very  seriously  that  I 
would  put  up  a flax  manufacturing  plant  in  Oregon.  Not  to  rett  or 
scutch  but  to  buy  the  fibre  and  manufacture  it  into  various  things. 

“This  would  include  a spinning  plant  of  12,000  spindles,  requiring 
500  horsepower,  and  would  use  about  seven  tons  of  fibre  per  day, 
employing  about  1,600  people.  Such  a plant  probably  would  cost, 
including  building,  machinery,  power  plant  and  lands:  Building, 
$100,000;  machinery,  $150,000;  power  plant,  $50,000;  total,  $300,000. 
Also,  $40,000  for  a bleaching  plant;  $250,000  for  weaving  plant  of  600 
looms;  $75,000  for  building  to  house  employes;  $35,000  for  land.’’ 


EARLY  EFFORTS  OF  WOMEN  TO  ESTABLISH  THE  FLAX 
INDUSTRY  IN  OREGON 

(By  Mrs.  Wm.  P.  Lord,  Salem,  Oregon) 

“In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  compilers  of  the  Flax 
Bulletin,  I will  give  a brief  history  of  the  work  of  the  women  of 
Oregon  in  their  efforts  to  establish  a flax  industry.  The  first  one  to 
introduce  flax  to  Oregon  was  Mrs.  Owens,  who  planted  seed  at  Clatsop, 
making  fibre  and  strong  twine,  establishing  an  ‘entente  cordial’  with 
the  Indians,  who  gladly  bartered  fish  and  game  for  the  twine,  and  also 
protected  herself  and  family.  Mr.  Miller,  a Kentucky  farmer,  located 
at  Turner,  with  fine  public  spirit,  sent  products  of  Oregon  soil  in  1876 
to  the  first  great  exposition,  ‘The  Centennial,’  capturing  the  first  prize 
(requiring  nine  points  of  superiority).  This  came  as  a surprise  to  for- 
eign manufacturers,  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Barbour,  of  Ireland,  at  once 
sent  two  experts  to  Oregon  to  grow  flax,  and  make  fibre  for  his  mill 
in  Belfast.  This  flax  straw,  grown  under  supervision,  was  scutched  at 
the  penitentiary  by  convict  labor.  Mr.  Barbour,  in  letters  to  the  expert, 
which  were  read  by  the  farmers,  some  of  whom  are  still  living,  expressed 
his  satisfaction  with  the  fibre,  some  of  which,  he  claimed  was  the 
highest  grade  ever  spun  in  his  mill.  The  fibre,  especially  noted,  was 
grown  on  the  red  land,  at  Waldo  Hills.  When  the  second  season’s 
fibre  was  ready  for  shipment,  it  was  destroyed  by  a fire  of  unknown 
origin,  and  the  work  was  discontinued. 

“For  the  fifteen  years  following,  flax  was  grown  for  the  seed  only, 
straw,  the  valuable  part,  being  burnt  to  get  rid  of  it.  Mr.  Morton, 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  in  the  Cleveland  administration,  knowing  these 
facts,  urged  Oregon  to  diversify  wheat  with  flax.  A fibre  bureau  was 
particularly  active,  with  Mr.  Dodge  as  chief,  and  the  aid  of  this  bureau 
was  offered  to  establish  the  industry. 

“This  suggestion,  coming  at  a time  of  great  depression,  involving 
every  class,  especially  the  farmer  who  was  facing  the  difficulty  of 
meeting  taxes,  with  wheat  at  45  cents  a bushel,  was  welcomed  by  my 
husband,  then  Governor  of  the  State,  as  a solution  of  a very  serious 
problem.  To  the  writer  was  delegated  the  task  of  securing  information, 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


17 


and  getting  in  touch  with  the  fibre  bureau.  When  compiled,  facts  were 
presented  first  at  a called  meeting  of  the  Portland  Manufacturers  Asso- 
ciation. Invaluable  aid  was  rendered  by  Mr.  Paul  Wessinger,  whose 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  linen  industries  of  Europe,  with  which  he 
had  been  associated,  resulted  in  an  indorsement  by  the  association.  The 
Women’s  Club  of  Portland  named  a working  committee,  which  lost  no 
time  in  forming  “The  Oregon  Women’s  Flax  Association.”  Mr.  Henry 
W.  Corbett,  Mr.  Henry  Failing  and  Mrs.  Weinhard  headed  a subscrip- 
tion list  for  stock.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  most  generous  sums  contrib- 
uted by  these  citizens,  who  were  always  alert  to  help  any  enterprise 
which  promised  benefit  to  their  beloved  State,  this  work  could  not 
have  been  carried  on.  Not  only  money,  but  business  advice,  and  valua- 
ble time  was  freely  given  to  aid  the  women  in  this  undertaking.  The 
merchants  of  Portland  did  all  in  their  power  to  support  the  project,  as 
well  as  the  citizens  generally. 

“Seed  was  planted,  machinery  for  a scutching  mill  installed,  and 
the  women  of  the  association  divided  the  work  of  supervision.  Four 
years  of  work  followed,  which  was  largely  experimental,  finding  out  how 
European  conditions  could  be  met  in  an  entirely  different  environment. 
The  Irish  method,  tried  the  first  year,  was  discarded  as  unsatisfactory. 
The  second  year  the  Belgian  method  was  tried.  The  fibre  bureau  sent 
to  Belgium  and  secured  the  services  of  the  inventor  of  the  best  method 
of  retting  the  straw,  and  paid  all  the  expenses  of  the  experiment,  except 
the  lumber  used  in  building  the  tanks,  which  was  done  by  convict  labor, 
on  the  creek  at  the  penitentiary.  The  straw  was  ready  for  retting  in 
July,  was  made  into  fibre,  sent  to  Belgium,  and  returned  to  the 
association  in  the  shape  of  choice  linen,  before  January.  Fibre  from 
this  handling  was  entered  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1900  by  Mr.  Dodge, 
of  the  fibre  bureau,  and  took  the  bronze  medal,  Mr.  Dodge  protesting 
that  the  Oregon  product  was  not  rated  high  enough.  Mills  in  Europe 
were  even  at  that  time  short  on  flax  fibre,  and  orders  came  pouring  in 
for  which  our  limited  means  was  a barrier  to  respond.  Had  a company 
been  formed  at  that  time,  taking  over  our  stock,  with  the  advantage  of 
all  the  experiments  of  four  years  of  gratuitous  work  and  well  formu- 
lated plans,  today  we  would  be  ‘pointing  with  pride’  to  our  great 
linen  industries.  The  eastern  mills  had  no  use  for  home-grown  fibre, 
especially  so  from  a state  to  which  they  were  selling  millions  annually 
of  the  products  of  flax  fibre,  in  the  shape  of  seine  twine,  and  bag 
sewing  twine.  Never  did  the  association  receive  a line  of  recognition 
to  samples  sent,  or  were  we  able  to  dispose  of  one  pound  of  fibre  in 
our  own  country  for  making  into  linen  or  twine.  And  here  was  the 
anomaly — Europe  almost  demanding  our  fibre,  and  our  own  country 
refusing  it.  Under  these  conditions,  the  association  was  obliged  to 
suspend  operations,  but  not  until  it  had  made  known  to  every  linen 
manufacturing  country  of  Europe,  that  Oregon  is  the  true  home  of  the 
finest  flax  grown.  To  the  ladies  of  this  association  is  due  the  honor  of 
introducing  the  culture  of  flax  successfully  in  Oregon.  The  list:  Mrs. 
Lord,  first  president  of  the  association;  Mrs.  O.  N.  Denny,  Mrs.  Card, 
Mrs.  Pittock,  Mrs.  Stearns,  Mrs.  Burrell,  Mrs.  Ben  Selling,  Mrs.  Tilton, 
all  of  Portland;  Mrs.  Wallace  and  Mrs  Gilbert,  of  Salem.” 


18 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Soil  Preparation,  Planting,  Harvesting,  Crop  Rotation 

A WRONG  IMPRESSION 

The  more  01*  less  prevalent  idea  that  flax  is  “hard  on  the  land”  is  a 
mistake.  It  is  not. 

This  mistaken  belief  arose  from  the  practice  of  farmers,  who  grew 
the  crop  for  the  seed  only,  of  persisting  in  growing  it  year  after  year 
on  the  same  ground.  As  a result  the  ground  became  inpregnated  with 
flax-wilt  or  some  other  flax  diseases  that  caused  poor  crops.  The 
farmer  was  to  blame — not  the  flax. 

With  certain  soils  flax  is  absolutely  beneficial.  There  is  no  other 
crop  which  will  so  thoroughly  and  quickly  break  up  new  land. 

The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  many  common  crops  remove  more  fertility  from  the 
soil  than  does  flax: 

“A  corn  crop  removes  one-half  more  nitrogen,  twice  as  much  potash, 
and  about  the  same  amount  of  phosporic  acid,  while  a good  oat  crop 
removes  practically  the  same  amount  of  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid 
and  about  three-quarters  more  potash  than  a flax  crop.  Compared  with 
wheat,  flax  removes  less  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  per  acre,  and  about 
one-half  more  nitrogen.  Potatoes  remove  about  the  same  amount  of 
phosphoric  acid,  about  one-third  less  nitrogen,  and  nearly  three  times 
more  potash  per  acre  than  the  average  flax  crop.  In  flax  growing  the 
heaviest  draft  falls  upon  the  nitrogen,  but  one  fair  crop  of  clover  will 
more  than  return  all  the  nitrogen  removed  in  two  crops  of  flax.” 

Rotate  your  crops. 


Indiscriminate  planting  of  flax  should  not  be  practiced,  but  suit- 
able soil  carefully  selected  and  the  planting  done  only  by  those  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  crop  or  under  the  supervision  of  some  one 
who  has  had  experience.  This  applies  especially  to  flax  that  is  grown 
for  the  fibre  and  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized.  The  same  neces- 
sity for  knowledge  and  correct  methods  applies  to  the  preparation  of 
the  fibre  after  the  crop  is  harvested.  In  marketing  the  product,  there 
should  be  a definite  organization  serving  the  growers  so  that  the 
business  may  be  handled  with  skill,  economy  and  to  the  profit  of  all 
concerned. 

If  flax  is  grown  for  the  seed  alone,  less  care  is  required  and  the  soil 
need  not  be  so  carefully  selected  and  prepared.  But  even  in  this 
branch  of  the  industry  experience,  knowledge  and  ability  will  make 
their  clear  showing  on  the  right  side  of  the  ledger. 

Indiscriminate  and  inexpert  attempts  at  flax  culture  and 
manufacture  unquestionably  would  result  in  failure. 


(In  addition  to  the  bulletins  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
that  will  be  sent  upon  request  to  supplement  this  bulletin,  the  following  sug- 
gestions are  given  as  applying  more  particularly  and  specifically  to  Oregon 
conditions. ) 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


19 


(By  Professor  H.  T.  French,  of  the  Oregon  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station,  Corvallis,  Oregon) 

“Soil  intended  for  flax  growing  should  be  plowed  as  deep  as  possible 
the  preceding  fall  or  winter  and  cross-plowed  again  to  a depth  of  5 or 
6 inches.  If  possible,  subsoiling  should  be  practiced.  The  surface  of 
the  soil  should  be  thoroughly  pulverized  before  seeding.  It  is  safe  to 
roll  only  late  in  the  season  after  the  time  when  heavy  rains  may  occur. 

“Weeds  must  not  be  permitted  in  the  flax  field. 

“The  following  crop  rotation  is  presented  as  one  of  the  best  adapted 
to  Western  Oregon:  (1)  wheat;  (2)  oats  and  barley;  (3)  clover  and 
grasses;  (4)  clover  and  grasses;  (5)  corn  and  potatoes;  (6)  flax.  The 
object  of  the  cultivated  crops  in  the  rotation  and  in  the  order  given  is 
to  clean  the  ground  of  weeds.  By  placing  such  crops  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  flax  this  object  will  be  better  obtained  than  when  they  occur 
earlier  in  the  course. 

“Manure  which  is  intended  to  benefit  the  flax  crop  should  be  applied 
preceding  the  flax,  unless  some  commercial  fertilizer  is  used.  It  should 
be  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the  soil  before  the  flax  seed  is  sown. 
Commercial  fertilizers  are  used  quite  extensively  in  the  flax  districts  of 
Europe. 

“From  all  the  sources  of  information  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the 
flax  crop  has  been  charged  with  greater  power  of  exhausting  the  soil  than 
it  possesses.  On  the  other  hand,  on  account  of  its  delicate  feeding  pro- 
pensities, it  should  not  be  compelled  to  search  for  its  food  where  only 
a scanty  supply  is  found.  One  fair  crop  of  clover  will  more  than  return 
all  the  nitrogen  removed  in  two  crops  of  flax,  and  in  flax  growing  the 
heaviest  draft  falls  on  nitrogen. 

“From  the  information  at  our  command  we  would  conclude  that  not 
less  than  two  bushels  of  seed  to  the  acre  should  be  sown,  and  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  two  and  one-half  bushels  to  the  acre  will  give 
better  results.  When  flax  is  sown  for  seed  alone,  three-quarters  of  a 
bushel  per  acre  is  enough. 

“Broadcast  seeding  is  generally  recommended.  A light  smoothing 
harrow  is  sufficient  to  cover  the  seed,  but  if  the  ground  is  not  thor- 
oughly pulverized  a second  harrowing  may  be  needed.  This  may  be 
followed  by  the  roller,  which  hastens  germination.  It  is  important 
that  the  plants  should  come  up  as  evenly  as  possible,  or  they  will  not 
all  mature  at  the  same  time.  Under  average  climatic  conditions  we  do 
not  believe  that  it  is  safe  to  sow  flax  seed  in  the  Willamette  Valley 
before  the  first  of  May. 

“The  success  of  the  flax  industry  is  controlled  very  largely  by 
natural  conditions.  There  are  only  a few  localities  in  the  world  where 
the  highest  degree  of  success  can  be  obtained,  and  some  of  these  are 
losing  their  prestige  on  account  of  no  longer  being  able  to  produce  the 
most  desirable  results.  The  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  during 
the  period  of  growth  and  extending  through  the  preparation  of  the 
fibre  have  a marked  influence  upon  the  quality  of  the  product. 

“The  fibre  from  which  linen  fabric  finally  is  wrought  is  a delicate 
vegetable  organism  which  is  easily  ruined  by  ba'd  management  or 
unfavorable  conditions.  It  is  not  expected  that  the  farmer  will  go 
further  than  to  raise  the  straw.  From  this  stage  on  the  work  can 
better  be  handled  by  the  manufacturer,  or  in  plants  established  for  the 
purpose  of  preparing  the  fibre  for  manufacturing.” 


20 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


(By  Eugene  Bosse,  a Belgian  flax  expert  with  over  fifty  years’ 
experience  in  the  flax  industry) 

“The  question  often  has  come  to  my  mind  why  Oregon — which  is  a 
second  Belgium  as  to  climate,  soft  water  and  proper  land  for  the  pro- 
duction of  fine  flax — has  not  gone  into  the  flax  industry  on  an 
extensive  scale. 

“Many  efforts  have  been  made  during  the  past  fifteen  years  or 
more  to  push  and  develop  the  industry.  Some  of  these  efforts  failed  on 
account  of  insufficient  knowledge  of  both  growing  and  manufacture; 
others  by  lack  of  sufficient  capital,  accidents  and  other  outside  causes; 
and  still  others  because  the  old  European  system  of  harvesting  and 
caring  for  the  crop  was  followed  or  attempted.  The  American  is  not 
willing  to  pull  the  flax  by  hand  and  do  all  the  tedious  hand  work  that 
is  done  in  Europe  by  boys,  girls,  men  and  women  for  wages  of  twenty 
to  sixty  cents  for  ten  hours’  work.  If  the  industry  is  to  be  successful 
in  this  country  other  methods  must  be  found  and  followed.  They  have 
been  found,  and  they  can  be  followed  successfully  by  anyone  who  is 
careful  to  work  according  to  instructions. 

“As  a matter  of  fact,  the  growing  of  flax  is  extremely  easy,  simple 
and  feasible,  and  it  requires  little,  if  any,  more  work  than  other  crops 
and  pays  very  much  better  on  the  average. 

“Preparing  the  Land — The  land  intended  for  flax  should  be  selected 
in  the  fall  and  should  be  clean  land,  rich  enough  to  make  a good  crop 
of  wheat;  well  drained;  not  too  sandy.  Whenever  possible  the  preceding 
crop  should  have  been  one  requiring  cultivation,  such  as  corn  or 
potatoes;  clover,  hay  or  pasture,  or  grain  are  good  rotating  crops  for 
flax  land.  The  field  should  be  plowed  six  to  eight  inches  deep  in 
November  or  December  and  allowed  to  rest  until  dry  in  March.  It  then 
should  be  cultivated  twice,  deep  and  crossways;  allowed  to  rest  another 
two  weeks,  when  it  should  be  harrowed  deep  and  crossways,  and  then 
left  until  ready  to  seed,  the  first  part  of  April.  The  land  must  be  well 
refined  before  seeding.  It  is  very  important  to  keep  flax  as  free  as 
possible  from  weeds.  These  preparations  and  precautions  always  should 
be  observed  if  success  is  to  be  attained. 

“Seeding — If  the  crop  is  to  be  grown  for  seed  alone,  three-quarters 
of  a bushel  per  acre  is  sufficient.  But  growing  flax  for  fibre  is  a very 
much  more  profitable  crop  and  for  this  there  should  be  sown  90  to 
100  pounds  of  good,  clean  foreign  seed  to  the  acre.  In  normal  times, 
Belgian,  Dutch  or  Russian  seed  can  be  had  for  about  $3.00  a bushel  in 
the  New  York  or  Boston  markets.  This  seed  is  good  for  three  sowings — 
that  is,  the  original  sowing  and  the  seed  from  the  two  succeeding 
crops.  After  the  third  crop  new  seed  should  be  secured. 

“The  seed  may  be  drilled  or  broadcasted,  the  latter  probably  being 
the  better  for  fibre  flax.  The  seed  should  be  covered  evenly  to  a depth 
of  one  to  one  and  one-half  inches,  and,  when  the  land  is  dry,  rolled. 

“Reaping — In  the  harvesting  of  flax  there  is  no  difference  in  the 
quality  of  that  pulled  and  that  which  is  cut.  The  only  difference  in 
these  two  methods  is  that  there  is  a loss  by  cutting  in  the  quantity,  but 
this  is  so  slight — from  one-fifteenth  to  one-twentieth — that  it  is  more 
than  offset  by  the  added  cost  of  pulling.  If  the  ground  is  properly 
prepared  and  level  this  loss  amounts  to  very  little,  since  there  is  a 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


21 


EUGENE  BOSSE,  FLAX  EXPERT  OF  FIFTY  YEARS  EXPERIENCE  IN 
BELGIUM  AND  UNITED  STATES,  IN  CHARGE  OF  WORK 
FOR  EUGENE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 


Mr.  Eugene  Bosse,  the  Belgian  flax  expert  who  has  had  fifty  years 
of  experience  in  the  culture  and  manufacture  of  flax,  says: 

“Oregon  has  the  proper  soil,  the  climate  and  the  water — the  three 
essentials  for  flax  growing,  and  all  that  is  needed,  if  they  are  made  use 
of  as  they  should  be.  We  can  grow  just  as  good  flax  in  Oregon  as  in 
the  famous  Courtrai  district  of  Belgium,  or  any  other  place  in  the  world, 
if  we  go  at  it  right.” 


22 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


knot  in  the  flax  stalk,  about  one  inch  above  the  ground,  below  which 
there  is  no  fibre  at  all.  It  takes  a man  five  days  to  pull  one  acre  of 
flax,  while  at  least  six  acres  can  be  cut  in  a day  with  a team,  and  with 
two  men  following  to  clean  up  when  it  is  first  grade  flax  cut  with  a 
dropping  machine. 

“When  the  flax  is  sufficiently  dry  it  is  raked  and  put  into  small 
shocks  to  get  dry  enough  to  be  threshed.  It  then  may  be  sent  to  the 
nearest  mill,  either  loose  or  baled,  to  be  threshed,  retted,  scutched  and 
manufactured  or  shipped. 

“Retting — Water  retting — either  river  or  tank — is  very  much  better 
than  dew  retting.  Water-retted  flax  is  of  a very  much  better  color — a 
clear  golden — while  dew-retted  flax  is  very  apt  to  be  discolored  and 
inferior.  As  a rule  water-retted  flax  is  worth  about  fifty  per  cent  more 
than  dew-retted. 

“Grades — Flax  is,  as  a rule,  divided  into  three  grades.  The  first 
grade  of  flax  must  be  clean,  not  less  than  28  inches  long,  with  the 
bolls  off,  cut  straight  and  even,  bound  and  shocked.  Of  this  there 
should  be  from  two  to  two  and  three-quarters  tons  of  straw  to  the  acre, 
which  will  bring  $20  to  $30  per  ton. 

“The  second  grade  is  tolerably  clean,  less  than  28  and  more  than 
15  inches  long.  May  be  cut  with  a mower  and  drawn  outside  of  the 
next  row.  In  two  days,  when  dried,  it  may  be  raked  like  hay,  and 
when  dry  enough  threshed  with  an  ordinary  thresher  with  the  concave 
teeth  taken  off  and  replaced  by  hard  wood  pieces,  which  saves  cutting 
the  straw.  This  straw  may  be  spread  on  the  ground  with  a manure 
spreader  about  two  or  three  inches  thick  and  when  retted  and  dry 
raked  up  like  hay  and  brought  to  the  mill. 

“The  third  grade  may  be  generalized  as  waste.  This  should  amount 
to  only  a very  small  percentage  of  the  crop,  grown  in  poor  spots  or 
damaged.  It  should  be  dealt  with  same  as  grade  two,  and  will  bring 
about  $10  per  ton  for  bagging,  upholstery  tow,  etc. 

“Don’t  grow  flax  on  poorly  drained  land. 

“Don’t  grow  flax  on  white  clay. 

“Don’t  grow  flax  on  sour  or  sad  land. 

“Don’t  grow  flax  on  muck  of  any  kind. 

“Don’t  grow  flax  on  land  dirty  with  weeds. 

“A  good  crop  of  flax  cannot  be  produced  on  a poor,  wet,  sour,  weedy, 
dirty  or  half  pulverized  soil  any  more  than  can  a good  wheat  crop.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


23 


Costs,  Production,  Markets,  Prices,  Profits,  Etc. 

(In  the  following  it  will  be  noted  that  there  is  some  variation  in  costs,  pro- 
duction, prices  and  profits  per  acre,  but  this  is  natural  since  no  two  pieces  of 
ground  and  no  two  men  will  yield  exactly  the  same  results.  As  much  depends 
upon  the  man  as  upon  the  ground.) 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  says  (applicable  to  the  present 
condition  in  Oregon  for  the  culture  of  fibre  flax)  : 

“As  the  case  stands,  the  farmer  is  hardly  in  a position  to  grow  flax 
save  in  an  experimental  way  until  he  is  sure  of  a market,  and  the 
manufacturer,  that  is,  the  spinner,  is  not  in  a position  to  make  offers 
of  purchase  or  to  name  a price,  because  he  is  not  sure  that  the  farmer 
can  or  will  grow  flax  of  the  proper  standard,  or  that  he  can  afford  to 
purchase  at  any  price,  for  his  particular  manufacture,  such  flax  as  the 
farmer  may  produce.  This  simply  means  that  what  isolated  farmers 
cannot  accomplish  alone  must  be  accomplished  by  the  establishment  of 
little  local  industries.  That  is  to  say,  capital  must  establish  scutch 
mills  in  localities  where  flax  may  be  profitably  grown,  farmers  of  the 
neighborhood  agreeing  to  produce  5,  10  or  20  acres  of  straw  each, 
under  the  direction,  if  need  be,  of  the  managers  of  the  mills,  to  insure 
the  growth  of  a quality  of  straw  that  will  give  the  proper  standard  of 
fibre.  It  means  that  there  is  a necessity  for  a class  of  skilled  workers 
who  will  come  between  the  farmer  and  manufacturer  in  carrying  on  the 
operations  of  retting  and  scutching.  It  is  futile  to  expect  the  farmer 
to  ret  and  scutch  his  flax.  By  such  cooperative  arrangement  the  farmer 


FLAX  FIELD  NEAR  SALEM,  OREGON — STATE  PROJECT 


24 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


is  relieved  from  any  responsibility  in  the  matter,  further  than  to  pro- 
duce a proper  crop  of  straw.  One  good  scutch  mill  will  produce  the 
flax  grown  on  a score  or  more  of  farms. 

“Local  conditions  will,  in  a measure,  affect  and  give  direction  to 
the  forms  of  culture  and  methods  of  handling  the  product.  And  in 
time,  when  experiment  shall  have  determined  which  is  the  best  prac- 
tice for  a given  section,  it  will  be  followed,  naturally,  and  a standard 
form  of  flax  for  this  section  will  be  the  result,  which  will  be  recognized 
by  the  flax-buyers,  and  which  will  take  its  legitimate  position  among 
commercial  products. 

“The  scutch  or  tow  mills  attend  to  the  retting  and  cleaning  of  the 
fibre,  which  in  turn  is  sold  to  the  spinner.  One  good  scutching  mill 
will  prepare  the  flax  grown  on  a score  or  more  of  farms,  and  as  the 
work  is  accomplished  under  one  direction,  or  head,  the  product  will  be 
far  more  even,  as  to  standards,  than  would  be  possible  were  it  prepared 
by  twenty  men. 

“Let  him  put  in  only  a few  acres  of  flax  seed  (say  three  or  four 
acres)  for  fibre,  at  first,  regarding  it  wholly  as  an  experiment.  When 
he  has  gained  knowledge,  and  the  different  wheels  in  the  flax  industry 
have  been  put  in  position,  and  are  beginning  to  move,  he  will  know 
something  then  of  the  demand  for  flax  fibre,  and  he  can  extend  flax 
culture  accordingly. 

“Our  farmers  must  know  the  difference  between  poorly  grown  and 
prepared  flax,  which  is  worthless  for  any  purpose,  and  the  grade  of  flax 
which  a little  better  practice  will  give  them,  and  which  will  be  salable 
for  some  purpose.  This  information  can  not  be  obtained  by  them 
through  the  medium  of  the  published  literature  of  the  subject,  alone. 
Object  lessons,  in  many  instances,  will  be  necessary,  with  opportunity  to 
ask  questions  and  examine  and  handle  the  well-grown  product. 

“Appreciating  the  situation,  Canada  already  is  looking  forward  to  a 
time  when  they  will  be  able  to  find  in  Europe  a considerable  market  for 
Canadian-grown  flax.  We  are  not  even  growing  what  coarse  flax  we 
require  to  supply  our  flax-twine  mills. 

“The  farmer  has  little  incentive  to  grow  flax  until  a market  is 
assured,  and  a market  can  only  be  assured  when  scutch  mills  have  been 
established  to  take  the  product  off  his  hands  when  grown,  and  put  it 
into  a marketable  condition.  There  should  be  good  scutch  mills  in 
every  flax-growing  locality.  With  the  establishment  of  these  mills  in 
considerable  numbers,  the  farmer  will  be  ready  to  raise  flax  for  fibre, 
the  manufacturers  will  avail  themselves  of  the  home  supply,  and  the 
industry  will  be  placed  on  a substantial  footing.  Small  beginnings  have 
been  made,  but  there  is  a field  for  a larger  enterprise  in  this  direction, 
in  which  capital  must  lend  a helping  hand. 

“The  importance  of  re-establishing  the  flax-fibre  industry  in  the 
United  States  will  be  fully  appreciated  by  a perusal  of  the  tables  of 
imports  of  flax  fibre  and  its  manufacture  in  recent  years.  There  is  food 
for  thought  in  the  statement  that  these  imports  amount  to  over  sixteen 
million  dollars,  in  a single  year,  nearly  two  millions  of  this  value 
representing  raw  flax  fibre. 

“Flax  is  now  cultivated  in  the  West  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
acres  for  its  seed  only;  but  successful  experiments  have  demonstrated 
the  adaptability  of  our  lands  and  climate  to  the  growth  of  as  good  flax 
as  may  be  demanded  for  any  kind  of  linen.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


25 


In  an  experiment  by  a skilled  flax  grower  of  Wisconsin,  a profit  of 
$229  was  shown  on  a six-acre  tract,  and  $60  of  this  sum  was  received 
for  seed,  at  $1.00  a bushel.  The  expenses  per  acre,  including  retting 
and  scutching  (the  latter  costing  $20  an  acre),  amounted  to  a little 
more  than  $39  an  acre.  The  flax  produced  was  worth  eleven  cents  per 
pound. 


The  Portland  Linseed  Oil  Works,  of  Portland,  Oregon,  will  furnish 
seed  at  market  prices  to  growers  and  contract  with  them  for  their 
entire  crops.  They  are  at  present  (March,  1916)  guaranteeing  a mini- 
mum price  of  $1.25  per  bushel  when  harvested,  and  are  taking  the 
matter  up  with  their  eastern  connections  with  a view  to  increasing  this 
guarantee  to,  say  $1.40  per  bushel.  This  guarantee,  of  course,  is  for 
the  purpose  of  affording  a prospective  grower  absolute  protection  to 
the  extent  of  the  guarantee,  so  that  in  case  anything  unexpected  should 
happen  to  the  flaxseed  market,  they  will  pay  the  minimum  price  that 
they  guarantee,  even  though  the  ruling  market  price  is  much  less  at  the 
time  the  crop  is  harvested  and  ready  for  market.  The  present  market 
price,  however,  is  $2.40,  with  every  prospect  of  a continued  rise  in 
price,  so  this  minimum  guarantee  will  not  cut  much  figure  under  pres- 
ent conditions.  The  Portland  Linseed  Oil  Works  paid  last  year  as  high 
as  2.10%  per  bushel.  The  following  table  shows  the  prices  of  flax 
seed  on  the  dates  named: 


June  1,  1914 $1.60% 

August  1,  1914 1.68% 

October  1,  1914 1.38 

January  1,  1915 1.60% 

January  1,  1916 2.17% 

February  14,  1916 2.33% 

March,  1916  2.40 


The  Portland  Linseed  Oil  Works  are  at  present  drawing  their  supply 
of  seed  from  the  territory  west  of  Havre,  in  Montana.  Large  quanti- 
ties also  are  brought  from  Manchuria,  China. 

The  present  high  price  is  due  to  shortage  of  crop  in  the  United 
States  and  inability  to  obtain  the  seed  from  foreign  countries,  linseed 
oil  being  regarded  as  a contraband  of  war.  Excessive  increase  in 
freight  rates  also  discourage  the  importation  of  seed.  In  1910,  freight 
rates  on  flaxseed  from  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  to  New  York,  was  15% 
cents  per  bushel;  it  is  now  60  cents  per  bushel.  There  is  also  a tariff 
of  20  cents  per  bushel  on  flaxseed.  This  company  is  now  importing 
considerable  seed  from  Manchuria;  they  have  900  tons  on  the  way  at 
the  present  time.  They  have  some  samples  of  fibre  flax  seed  from 
China,  which  is  of  very  poor  quality,  and  represents  the  kind  of  flax 
used  in  the  linen  industry  of  China. 

Mr.  Eugene  Bosse  made  the  following  showing  as  the  result  of  his 
cultivation  of  six  acres  of  flax  at  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Bosse 
retted  and  scutched  the  flax  on  his  own  ground,  and  shipped  it  direct 
to  the  manufacturers: 


26 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Sowed  nine  bushels  Belgian  seed,  at  $1.50  per  bushel $ 13.50 

Pulling  by  hand  32.59 

Binding  and  sheltering  5.00 

Threshing  by  hand  20.65 

Retting  on  the  ground > 19.40 

Scutching  120.83 

Shipping  10.00 

Freight  to  Boston,  about  30.00 


$251.97 

Cost  per  acre  $ 42.00 

Product : 

60  bushels  seed,  valued  at  $1.00 . $ 60.00 

600  pounds  tow,  2 cents  per  pound 12.00 

3,718  pounds  fibre,  at  11  cents  per  pound,  as  offered  by  manufacturers, 

Ross,  Turner  & Co.,  of  Boston  408.98 


$480.98 

Net  profit  $229.01 

Net  profit  per  acre  ..$  38.17 

(Note  that  in  the  above  cost  estimate  most  of  the  labor  was  done  by  hand, 
an  addition  to  the  total  cost  which  would  be  largely  obviated  by  reaping  and 
threshing  by  machinery.) 


While  a grower  who  disposes  of  his  crop  in  the  form  of  straw 
receives  much  less  for  his  product  than  the  man  who  rets  his  straw 
and  turns  it  into  fibre,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  grower  in 
the  first  instance  relieves  himself  of  considerable  extra  labor  and 
expense — and  oftentimes  the  possibility  of  failure — which  would  largely 
offset  the  advantage  of  the  better  prices  he  might  receive  for  his  crop 
in  the  form  of  fibre. 

Mr.  Bosse  states  that  it  is  possible  to  produce  from  two  to  two 
and  three-quarter  tons  of  first  grade  fibre  straw  per  acre  in  Oregon, 
and  that  this  fibre  straw,  exclusive  of  the  seed,  will  bring  a price  of 
$20  to  $30  per  ton.  (This,  of  course,  is  before  it  is  retted,  scutched,  or 
in  any  way  treated,  and  represents  its  value  after  it  has  simply  been 
cut  and  dried,  and  the  seed  bolls  removed.)  Mr.  Bosse  also  states  that 
good  foreign  seed  may  be  purchased  in  Boston  at  $3.00  per  bushel. 

The  cost  of  planting,  cultivating,  harvesting  and  hauling  one  acre 
of  ordinary  seed  flax  is  shown  as  ranging  from  $10  to  $12.  Allowing 
for  the  increased  cost  of  fibre  flax  seed  and  the  extra  expense  of  culti- 
vating and  handling  a crop  of  fibre  flax,  a fair  approximate  cost  per 
acre  would  be  $20. 

Assuming  that  two  tons  of  fibre  straw  are  produced,  also  twenty 
bushels  of  seed,  the  result  would  be: 


20  bushels  seed,  at  $3.00  60.00 

2 tons  fibre  straw,  at  say  $25.00 $50.00 

$1 10.00 

Cost  20.00 

Profit  per  acre  $ 90.00 


Portland  Linseed  Oil  Works  state  that  they  paid  $2.00  for  the  seed 
grown  by  the  State  at  Salem.  This  price  was  based  on  the  amount  of 
oil  contained  in  the  seed. 

The  following  statement  by  Mr.  Bosse  shows  the  profit  to  be  made 
in  the  work  of  retting,  scutching,  etc.  Mr.  Bosse  has  already  stated 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


27 


that  first  grade  fibre  straw  will  sell  for  $20  to  $30  per  ton,  after  being 
cut  and  before  being  subjected  to  retting,  scutching  or  any  other  process 
of  preparation  for  market. 

Assuming  that  man  who  prepares  the  fibre  for  market  pays  the 
grower  $20  per  ton  for  his  straw,  the  following  figures  show  the  result 
of  his  work: 


2,000  pounds  flax  straw,  cost  per  ton $20.00 

1,500  pounds  after  being  threshed,  cost  of  threshing 2.00 

1,050  pounds  after  retting,  costing  of  retting 8.00 

241  pounds  *fibre  at  cost  of  5 cents  per  pound  to  scutch 12.05 

Extra  expense  2.00 


Total  cost  of  241  pounds  fibre... $44.05 

Credit  by  four  bushels  seed  6.00 


Net  cost  $38.05 

(Or  15.79  cents  per  pound.) 


The  fibre  will  bring  23  cents  per  pound  at  Belfast,  at  prices  prevailing  before 
the  war. 


Emil  J.  Hanset,  flax  expert,  of  Salem,  Oregon,  says  that  there  is 
better  flax  land  in  the  Willamette  Valley  than  in  any  part  of  Belgium, 
and  from  land  of  this  character  two  and  one-half  to  three  tons  of  fibre 
straw  should  be  produced  per  acre.  It  is  called  straight  or  tangled  flax, 
according  to  the  way  it  is  harvested  and  handled.  The  straight  fibre 
means  considerably  more  labor  but  is  worth  $200  to  $300  per  ton, 
while  the  tangled  (harvested  like  hay)  is  worth  only  $100  to  $160  per 
ton. 

Mr.  Hanset  gives  the  following  figures  on  the  cost  and  return  for 
the  planting  of  one  acre  of  flax: 

COST  AND  RETURN  FOR  FLAXSEED  ALONE 
(Based  on  breaking  raw  land  with  power  plow) 

Plowing,  two  discings,  two  harrow,  sowing  with  drill  or  broadcast,  and 


then  rolling,  per  acre $ 4.00 

Seed,  one  bushel  at,  per  acre  1.75 

Hauling  seed  eight  miles,  per  acre  25 

Rental  value  of  land,  or  interest  on  investment,  per  acre 3.00 

Cutting  and  raking,  per  acre  75 

Stacking,  per  acre  1.00 

Threshing,  at  10  cents  per  bushel,  per  acre 1.50 

Total  cost,  per  acre  $12.25 

Estimate  of  fifteen  bushels  to  the  acre  sell  for  $1.40  per  bushel $21.00 

Less  cost,  per  acre  12.25 


Net  profit,  per  acre  $ 8.75 


Add  to  the  foregoing  $10  per  acre  for  the  ton  of  straw — f.  o.  b. 
factory: 

TO  MANUFACTURE'  STRAW  FROM  SEED  FIBRE 
(Estimate  one  ton  of  tow  from  two  acres) 


Baling,  per  ton  of  tow  $ 2.00 

Hauling  and  freight,  per  ton  1.00 

Manufacturing  cost,  per  ton  15.00 

Loading,  per  ton  50 


Total  $18.50 


* It  will  be  seen  that  one  ton,  or  2,000  pounds  of  flax  straw  will  produce  241 
pounds  of  finished  fibre. 


28 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Tow  is  worth  $60  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  Eugene,  which  shows  profit  of 
$41.50,  or  $20.75  per  acre.  This  added  to  profit  from  seed  shows 
$29.50  net  profit  per  acre. 

Mr.  Hanset  further  states  that  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  million 
dollars  worth  of  flax  fibre  is  used  annually  in  the  United  States,  for 
nets,  twines,  etc.,  alone,  not  including  any  woven  goods. 

Flax  fibre  has  been  sold  for  as  high  as  $1,500  a ton  by  Mr.  Lopens, 
of  Belgium.  He  used  a system  of  retting  by  running  water,  in  imitation 
of  river  action. 


The  following  figures  are  given  as  an  illustration  of  the  approximate 
cost  and  possible  profit  to  be  derived  from  the  cultivation  of  one  acre 
of  flax  grown  for  seed.  Two  sets  of  figures  are  given,  one  based  upon  a 
yield  of  fifteen  bushels  to  the  acre,  the  other  upon  a yield  of  twenty 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  possible  profits  are  also  shown,  based  upon 
two  prices,  $2.00  and  $2.40  per  bushel: 


PROFIT  IN  GROWING  FLAX  SEE/D 


Cost  per  acre  on  production  of  fifteen  bushels  and  twenty  bushels. 


15  Bushels 

Plowing  $ 3.00 

Seed  (one  and  three-quarter  bushels  to  acre)  4.10 

Drilling  .50 

Harrowing  .50 

Sacks  (or  can  be  rented  for  lc  per  bushel).. 1.50 

Cutting  .50 

Threshing  1.20 

Hauling  to  thresher  .50 

Loading  on  cars  .30 

Freight  to  Portland  1.50 


.20  Bushels 
$ 3.00 
4.10 
.50 
.50 
2.4)0 
.50 
1.60 
.50 
.40 
2.00 


Total  cost  per  acre,  f.  o.  b.  Portland 


$13.60 


$1510 


If  sold  at  $2.00  per  bushel,  the  profit  per  acre  would  be: 


15  bushels  at  $2.00 $30.00 

Cost  - 13.60 


Profit  per  acre  $16.40 

20  bushels  at  $2.00  $40.00 

Cost  15.10 


Profit  per  acre  $24.90 

If  sold  at  $2.40  per  bushel,  the  profit  per  acre  would  be: 

15  bushels  at  $2.40  ..  $36.00 

Cost  13. 6D 

Profit  per  acre  $22.40 

20  bushels  at  $2.40  - $48.00 

Cost  - 15.10 

Profit  per  acre  - - $32.90 


There  should  also  be  at  least  one  and  one-half  tons  of  straw  per 
acre,  which,  if  in  the  vicinity  of  a tow  mill,  could  be  sold  for  from 
$2.50  to  $3.50  per  ton,  loose,  for  manufacture  into  packing  material 
for  crockery,  glassware,  etc.,  and  into  upholstery  tow. 

These  prices  refer  to  the  very  lowest  grade  of  straw.  The  tow 
commands  a much  higher  price,  from  $16  up. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


29 


The  flax  committee  of  the  Eugene  Chamber  of  Commerce  made 
the  following  approximate  estimate  of  the  probable  costs  and  returns 
to  the  farmer  from  flax  culture,  selling  the  straw  to  the  scutching 
mill  without  retting  or  other  treatment,  but  simply  as  it  comes  from 
the  fields: 


COST  TO  FARMER  PER  ACRE 


Plowing  — — $ 2.00 

Harrowing  2.00 

Seed,  at  $2.00  per  bushel 4.00 

Planting  50 

Cutting  1.00 

Hauling  4.00 

Total $13.50 


RECEIPTS  PER  ACRE 


Seed,  10  bushels,  at  $2.00 $20.00 

Straw,  2 tons,  at  $15.00 30.00 


Total $50.00 

Expense  13.50 


Net  return 


$36.50 


While  some  of  the  items  in  the  above  may  vary  in  individual 
instances  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  net  return  is  a conservative  estimate 
of  what  may  be  expected  under  present  conditions  and  prices. 


DEMONSTRATION  OF  METHOD  OF  PULLING  FLAX — STATE  PROJECT, 

SALEM,  OREGON 


30 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Golden  flax  seed  grown  at  Brownsville,  Oregon,  yielded  sixteen 
bushels  to  an  acre,  after  cleaning,  and  produced  22  pounds  of  oil  per 
bushel.  The  average  yield  of  oil  is  between  eighteen  and  one-half  and 
nineteen  pounds. 


The  American  Thread  Company  is  prepared  to  use  fibre  to  the  extent 
of  2,000,000  acres  annually. 


The  yield  per  acre  in  North  Dakota  is  from  nine  to  fourteen  bushels 
per  acre.  A North  Dakota  farmer  considers  that  if  he  raises  nine 
bushels  per  acre  and  receives  $1.00  per  bushel,  he  is  making  money. 


A flax  crop  in  Oregon,  grown  as  a combination  of  seed  and  tow,  can 
be  made  a very  profitable  one. 


The  fibre  obtained  from  seed  flax  is  known  as  tow,  and  is  used  for 
upholstery  stuffing,  crockery  and  glassware  packing,  etc.,  and  is  worth 
$60  or  more  per  ton. 


HARVESTING  FLAX  NEAR  SALEM,  OREGON — STATE  PROJECT 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


31 


THE  DEMAND  FOR  FLAX 

(From  the  Etagene  “Register,”  March  17,  1916) 

“Eastern  linen  factories  have  enough  flax  on  hand  to  last  them  until 
May,  and  after  that  the  buyers  do  not  know  where  they  are  going  to 
procure  any  more  flax  unless  some  change  takes  place  in  the  present 
state  of  international  trade  conditions  with  the  belligerent  countries, 
according  to  Professor  Lawrence  S.  Mayo,  of  Harvard  University,  whose 
father  is  treasurer  of  one  of  the  large  linen  factories  in  Massachusetts,' 
the  center  of  the  linen  manufacturing  district  in  this  country: 

“ ‘Now  and  for  some  time  past  it  has  been  difficult  for  the  linen 
factories  to  get  flax  and  the  question  has  been  keeping  them  on  edge 
for  some  time,’  said  Professor  Mayo.  ‘Since  the  supply  from  Belgium 
was  cut  short,  a trade  with  Russia  was  started.  Then  England  began 
holding  up  the  shipments  and  taking  charge  of  them  for  her  own 
manufacture.  It  has  been  necessary  for  the  linen  manufactories  to  get 
in  touch  with  their  congressmen  at  Washington,  who  then  see  Secretary 
Lansing,  who  secures  England’s  permission  to  let  a shipment  of  flax 
through  to  this  country.  It  is  becoming  almost  impossible  to  receive 
any  shipments  at  all.  Shortly  after  the  war  began  all  flax  trade  with 
Belgium,  the  main  source,  was  shut  off. 

“ ‘England  desires  the  flax  for  aeroplane  manufacture,  as  linen 
aeroplane  wings  are  said  to  be  the  best.  It  is  understood  that  she  is 
manufacturing  many  of  them  for  war  use.’  ” 


(Extract  from  Great  Falls  Daily  Tribune,  March  19,  1916) 

“The  Northern  Flax  Fiber  Company,  with  its  plant  at  Conrad, 
Montana,  has  invested  for  development  work  for  the  construction  of 
its  mill  for  perfecting  its  processes  and  for  other  purposes  up  to  this 
time  about  $90,000.  It  has  full  confidence  in  its  processes  as  well  as 
in  the  excellence  of  the  territory  adjacent  to  its  mill  for  the  production 
of  a high  grade  of  flax. 

“A  small  acreage  of  flax  was  raised  last  year,  and  the  company  now 
has  on  hand  sufficient  straw  to  make  about  125  tons  of  line  and  tow. 
One  carload  of  flax  consisting  of  16  tons  has  been  shipped  to  Belfast, 
Ireland,  to  the  York  Street  Flax  Spinning  Company.  The  officials  of 
the  local  company  have  been  notified  by  this  company  that  efforts  are 
being  made  through  the  government  to  provide  vessel  room  for  prompt 
shipment  of  more  flax  as  soon  as  it  is  ready,  and  the  local  company 
has  been  urged  to  have  all  the  flax  raised  that  can  be  raised  this  year, 
because  of  the  extraordinary  demand  for  it  on  account  of  the  war  and 
the  good  prices  prevailing. 

“The  company  has  men  now  obtaining  contracts  for  flax  this  year, 
and  expects  to  have  from  3,000  to  4,000  acres  grown.  This  acreage  will 
produce  all  the  flax  that  can  be  handled  by  the  company  in  its  single 
mill. 

“The  company  pays  $15  a ton  for  the  flax  unthreshed.  Farmers 
raise  from  two  to  three  and  one-half  tons  to  the  acre,  though  under 
experimental  conditions  the  yields  in  the  state  have  been  much  higher. 
The  company  makes  no  claim,  however,  that  the  farmer  inexperienced 


32 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


in  the  production  of  this  crop  will  raise  more  than  the  tonnage  stated, 
though  it  is  believed  that  the  production  will  be  gradually  increased  as 
the  farmers  become  more  familiar  with  the  crop. 

“The  company,  in  addition  to  guaranteeing  to  take  all  the  flax 
grown  by  the  farmer  at  $15  per  ton,  guarantees  to  each  farmer  who 
follows  directions  in  the  handling  and  irrigating  of  the  crop  a revenue 
of  $15  an  acre.  The  company  also  takes  a hail  insurance  of  $15  an 
acre  on  each  acre  of  flax  planted  for  it  and  turns  it  over  to  the  farmer 
without  expense. 

“Last  year  only  three  farmers  failed  to  grow  sufficient  flax  to  yield 
them  an  income  of  $15  an  acre,  and  the  company  was  required  to  pay 
out  because  of  its  guarantee  only  $24.85.  One  farmer  had  a revenue  of 
$39.22  an  acre  from  his  crop;  another  $27.67  and  another  $25.88. 
The  majority  of  the  farmers  growing  flax  last  year  got  a revenue  from 
the  land  cultivated  of  $20  an  acre  or  more. 

“The  company  has  experts  in  the  production  of  flax  to  instruct  the 
farmers  about  every  detail  of  the  work  from  the  preparation  of  the 
seed  bed  to  the  harvesting  of  the  crop.  The  company  also  furnishes  the 
seed,  charging  the  growers  the  market  price  for  it. 

“The  special  advantage  which  the  local  company  claims  over  other 
companies,  and  particularly  over  the  companies  producing  the  same 
class  of  fibre  it  produces,  is  the  secret  process  for  retting  the  flax. 
Under  the  old  system  of  dew  retting  it  required  from  five  to  eight  weeks 
to  get  the  flax  straw  in  proper  condition  to  take  the  fibre  from  them, 
while  under  the  system  employed  by  the  Northern  Company  the  straw 
is  prepared  for  stripping  in  about  three  days. 

“Flax  requires  about  the  same  cultivation  as  wheat  or  other  grain, 
so  that  the  farmer  can  produce  a large  acreage  at  small  expense.  It 
demands  but  little  from  the  soil,  leaving  the  land  after  a crop  is  grown 
but  little  different  in  productive  elements  as  when  the  crop  was  planted. 
A table  prepared  by  Professor  Snyder  of  the  Montana  state  college  shows 
that  flax  takes  less  from  the  soil  than  any  crop  grown  extensively  in 
this  territory.  Comparisons  are  made  with  wheat,  barley,  oats,  peas 
and  potatoes  and  flax  is  last  on  the  list  in  the  amount  of  the  elements  of 
fertility  taken  from  the  soil.” 


FREIGHT  RATES 

(By  J.  H.  Lothrop,  Secretary  Traffic  and  Transportation  Bureau, 
Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce) 

“The  present  freight  rates  from  Portland  to  New  York  are  as 
follows: 


COMMODITY 

Rail 

Per  100  lbs. 

Rail 

Per  100  lbs. 

LCD 

CL 

LCL 

CL 

Fibre,  flax,  compressed  in  bales,  24  M minimum 

$3.20 

1.50 

2.25 

3.20 

1 

$1.00 

1.25 
1.52 

2.25 

$ .80 
.90 
.80 
1.00 

$ .45 
.60 
.45 
1.00 

Flax  seed  in  packages,  30  M minimum 

Flax,  straw,  unthreshed,  in  packages,  24  M minimum.... 
Flax,  tow,  in  packages,  22  M minimum 

FLAX  BULLETIN 


33 


“It  is  difficult  to  guess  what  rates  may  be  expected  to  be  in  effect 
under  normal  conditions  via  the  Panama  Canal.  Generally  speaking, 
the  present  rates  by  water  as  shown  above  average  closely  to  rates  on 
other  articles  upon  which  the  competition  has  been  keen.  Further 
reductions  would  depend  upon  the  volume  of  traffic  and  the 
competition  for  business. 

“For  a rate  from  New  York  to  Belfast,  we  are  advised  that  at  present 
steamship  lines  will  not  quote  through  rates  to  Belfast,  Ireland.  The 
present  rate  to  Liverpool  is  7 9 cents  per  cubic  foot,  which  would  mean 
about  $1.00  per  cubic  foot  from  New  York  to  Belfast.  At  normal 
times  the  rate  from  New  York  to  Belfast  via  Liverpool  would  be  22 
cents  to  25  cents  per  cubic  foot.” 


FEEDING  VALUE  OF  FLAX  STRAW 

The  North  Dakota  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  states  that 
thoroughly  ripened  flax  straw  has  but  slight  feeding  value.  When, 
however,  the  straw  is  cut  green,  it  is  the  concensus  of  opinion  that  the 
feeding  value  is  high.  Some  who  have  fed  large  herds  of  stock  place  it 
almost  as  high  in  forage  value  as  alfalfa  or  clover  hay.  This  is  probably 
exaggerating  its  value  but  existing  data  indicates  that  the  average  flax 
straw,  when  properly  used,  is  a valuable  asset  for  feeding  stock.  It  is 
important  that  the  stock  should  be  well  salted  and  have  free  access  to 
a good  water  supply  and  that  the  straw  should  be  fed  in  association  with 
other  types  of  roughage. 

Many  farmers  have  cut  green  flax  and  used  it  as  hay  without  injury 
when  it  is  properly  sun-cured.  Numerous  others  have  turned  their 
stock  into  flax  stubble  and  unharvested  flax  with  good  results. 

The  conclusion  seems  to  be  that  flax  straw  is  a valuable  forage, 
quite  nutritious  and  beneficial,  particularly  to  cattle — not  harmful  if 
fed  with  reasonable  care. 


Extracts  from  Letters 

(Showing  Market  Conditions  in  the  United  States) 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry 
— “The  term  flax  tow  is  commonly  used  to  designate  several  different 
products  from  flax  plants.  In  the  upholstering  trade  it  means  the  fibre 
roughly  prepared  from  seed  flax,  or  from  coarse  fibre  flax,  to  be  used 
in  upholstering  furniture,  car  seats,  automobile  cushions,  etc.  In  the 
spinning  trade  it  means  the  short  fibre  combed  out  in  the  various  pro- 
cesses of  preparing  the  long  fibre  for  spinning,  and  by  the  flax-fibre 
producers  it  usually  means  either  the  scutching  tow,  which  is  the  fibre 
beaten  off  in  scutching  the  long  fibre,  or  the  hackled  tow,  which  is 
combed  out  in  hackling  the  fibre  after  it  has  been  scutched. 

“Upholstering  tow  is  produced  most  extensively  as  a kind  of  by- 
product at  the  insulating  fibre  mills  at  St.  Paul  and  Winona,  Minnesota. 
It  is  made  at  these  large  mills  from  seed-flax  straw  which  is  found  to  be 
not  suitable  for  the  preparation  of  a better  grade  of  fibre,  to  be  used  in 


34 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


insulating  board.  Upholstering  tow  is  also  produced  by  several  small 
mills  scattered  throughout  the  seed-flax  growing  region  of  Minnesota 
and  the  Dakotas. 

“Most  of  the  upholstering  tow  is  prepared  from  straw  that  has  been 
grown  primarily  for  seed  production  and  has  been  threshed  by  ordinary 
grain  threshing  machines.  It  is  run  through  a series  of  fluted  rollers, 
usually  followed  by  a shaking  or  beating  device,  but  no  attempt  is  made 
to  beat  out  all  of  the  shives.  A ton  of  straw  will  produce  from  1,200 
to  1,600  pounds  of  upholstering  tow.  This  material  commands  a price 
of  $30  to  $40  per  ton,  delivered  at  the  factories  where  it  is  to  be  used. 

“Small  quantities  of  tow  prepared  in  the  same  manner,  only  run 
through  the  machine  three  or  more  times  to  beat  out  more  of  the 
shives,  are  now  being  used  by  large  paper  mills  in  New  England  States 
in  the  manufacture  of  counter  boards  for  heels  and  box  toes  of  shoes. 

“The  normal  prices  of  fibre  for  spinning  purposes  range  from  7 to  12 
cents  per  pound  for  the  tow,  and  15  to  20  cents  per  pound  for  the  line 
fibre.  At  the  present  time  these  prices  are  nearly  doubled,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  of  securing  the  usual  supplies  from  Russia  and  Belgium. 

“The  principal  markets  for  spinning  flax  in  this  country  are  in  New 
England,  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  The  largest  mills  are  at  Paterson, 
New  Jersey;  Andover,  Fall  River,  Webster,  Millbury,  and  North  Graf- 
ton, Massachusetts;  and  Auburn,  Greenwich,  and  Schaghticoke,  New 
York.  There  are  about  twenty  flax  spinning  mills  in  this  country.  The 
only  company  on  the  Pacific  Coast  using  flax  fibre  is  the  Oakland  Cotton 
Mills,  Oakland,  California. 

“Flax  fibre  is  not  quoted  in  any  of  the  markets  in  this  country,  and 
so  far  as  I am  aware  quotations  can  only  be  obtained  by  direct  corres- 
pondence with  the  producers.” 


Will  Lipman,  of  Lipman,  Wolfe  & Co.,  Portland,  Ore.,  June  3,  1916 — 
“Reports  of  the  development  of  flax  around  Eugene  have  reached 
the  East  and  inquiries  from  the  largest  Scotch,  English,  and  Irish  linen 
houses  have  been  made  through  their  representatives. 

“I  don’t  believe  the  people  realize  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking 
you  are  fostering  and  developing  in  your  city.  I do  not  believe  the 
people  comprehend  what  this  is  going  to  mean  to  our  State.  The 
income  from  flax  will  amount  to  more  than  the  combined  products  of 
wheat,  wool,  fish,  and  lumber,  and  should  give  employment  to  100,000 
skilled  workmen,  to  say  nothing  of  the  people  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  the  by-products  of  flax,  such  as  mattress  fillings,  refrigerator 
linings  and  dozens  of  other  articles. 

“If  the  people  were  only  alive  to  the  importance  of  the  raising  of 
flax  you  would  have  no  trouble  in  raising  $50,000.00  instead  of 
$5,000.00.  There  is  no  question  in  my  mind  that  with  the  demonstra- 
tion that  Oregon  can  raise  flax  as  fine  as  any  in  the  world,  that  Eugene 
has  before  her  a remarkable  future,  indeed  it  may  become  the  center 
of  an  industry  unequaled  in  importance  in  any  other  city  in  the 
United  States.  Wishing  you  every  success  that  your  organization  so 
richly  deserves.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


35 


Hemp  and  Flax  Hose,  No.  20896 — An  American  consular  officer  in 
Norway  writes  that  a firm  in  his  district  desires  to  be  placed  in  touch 
with  American  manufacturers  of  hemp  and  flax  hose.  It  is  stated  that 
the  firm  is  willing  to  either  buy  the  hose  on  its  own  account  or  act  as 
agent  on  a commission  basis.  Samples,  with  quotations  f.  o.  b.  New 
York,  should  be  sent.  Correspondence  may  be  in  English. 


Geo.  R.  Hyslop,  Associate  Professor  of  Crop  Production,  Oregon 
Agricultural  College,  April  29,  1916 — “In  reply  to  yours  of  April  27, 
and  in  keeping  with  a promise  made  some  time  ago,  and  also  another 
letter  from  Mr.  J.  Frederic  Thorne,  I am  giving  you  the  following 
summary  of  work  which  we  have  accomplished  with  flax: 

“In  1915,  we  had  some  thirty-one  different  lots  of  seed  flax  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  which  were  grown  in  plots  to  determine  their 
ability  to  produce  flax  seed.  In  addition  to  this,  we  had  some  twenty- 
eight  small  lots  which  were  given  a trial  in  the  nursery.  These 
small  lots  included  both  fibre  and  seed  flax.  Yields  of  flax  as  a 
seed  crop  amounted  to,  in  several  cases,  nearly  fourteen  bushels  per 
acre  of  re-cleaned  flax  of  excellent  quality.  Our  best  results  were 
secured  witl*  various  varieties  with  various  selections  from  North 
Dakota,  15  5.  We  also  had  six  different  plantings  of  flax  for  fibre  pur- 
poses in  small  plots  which  yielded  from  1,460  pounds  to  2,880  pounds 
of  flax  straw,  after  the  seed  had  been  removed  by  stripping. 

“Our  work  for  this  year  will  involve  experiments  with  cultural 
methods,  rate  of  seeding,  variety  testing  and  the  trying  out  of  a large 
number  of  selections  which  have  been  made  on  the  college  farm  and 
some  200  fibre  selections  made  by  the  Office  of  Fibre  Investigations.” 


Cable  Flax  Mills,  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y. — “We  use  flax  for  making 
thread  only.  Good  rough  flax  as  it  comes  from  the  scutching  mill  is 
worth,  at  present,  20  to  25  cents  per  pound,  delivered  at  a twine  factory. 
This  is  at  least  twice  the  normal  price  of  the  last  few  years.  Will  be 
pleased  to  have  samples.” 


Eugene  Bosse — “Manila  and  Yucatan  fibres  used  annually  in  United 
States  for  binder  twine  amount  to  $30,000,000.  This  raw  material 
costs  6 to  7 cents  per  pound  in  New  York.  We  could  furnish  good  tow 
cheaper  than  that,  which  would  make  better  twine,  after  the  fine  grade 
fibre  has  been  sorted  out.” 


V.  R.  Blehdon,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. — “Freight  on  tow  from  Eastern  North 
Dakota  to  New  York  is  $10.  Makes  three  grades  of  tow:  Medium,  at 
$18  per  ton;  extra  medium,  or  No.  2 fine,  at  $24  per  ton;  fine,  at  $28 
per  ton,  f.  o.  b.  mill. 

“Most  of  the  tow  is  used  in  the  East  by  parlor  furniture  manufac- 
turers; for  two  or  three  years  back,  however,  it  has  been  used  for  lining 
railroad  refrigerator  cars,  after  being  boiled,  chemically  prepared 
and  making  it  solid  under  very  powerful  presses.  After  this  is  done, 
the  walls,  bottom  and  ceilings  of  cars  may  be  lined  with  this  preparation. 
Has  been  trying  to  buy  and  ship  flax  straw  from  Montana  to  his  mills 
but  it  was  impossible  on  account  of  exorbitant  freight  rates.” 


36 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


James  Thompson  Co.,  Valley  Falls,  N.  Y. — “Flax  fibre  in  this  coun- 
try has  been  confined  to  the  making  of  twine  and  thread.  Have  paid, 
under  normal  conditions,  10  to  15  cents  per  pound  for  good  quality  in 
the  rough.”  

Union  Fibre  Company,  Winona,  Minn. — “We  manufacture  principally 
insulating  products,  pipe-coverings,  etc.  We  draw  straw  each  fall  from 
Southern  Minnesota  and  Eastern  South  Dakota  from  distances  up  to 
about  three  hundred  miles,  and  freight  rates  up  to  15  cents  per  cwt.,  or 
$3.00  per  ton.  For  several  years  past  we  have  been  able  to  fill  our 
average  annual  requirements  of  7,500  to  10,000  tons  at  an  average  of 
$7.25  to  $7.50  per  ton,  delivered  Winona,  but  on  account  of  the  cutting 
off  of  import  fibres  by  the  European  war,  flax  tow  is  in  somewhat  better 
demand  this  year,  and  consequently  flax  straw  has  increased  until  the 
average  price  this  season  is  about  $8.50  per  ton,  delivered  Winona. 

“Flax  straw,  after  being  passed  through  the  usual  size  of  tow  brake, 
made  up  of  about  sixteen  pairs  of  rolls,  suffers  about  50  per  cent 
shrinkage  in  weight,  on  account  of  the  inside  pith  or  shive  being  broken 
away,  and  the  resultant  product  is  called  coarse  flax  tow,  or  upholster- 
ing tow.  A second  run  through  a single  tow  brake,  or  a single  run 
through  a double  brake  such  as  we  have,  makes  medium  tow,  and  a 
third  or  even  a fourth  run,  manufactures  fine  tow,  from  which  practi- 
cally all  of  the  shive  and  woody  particles  have  been  taken,  leaving 
almost  clean  fibre.  A fair  estimate  of  present  prices  on  these  three 
grades  of  tow,  f.  o.  b.  Chicago  market  is  as  follows:  Coarse  tow,  $25 
per  ton;  medium  tow,  $40  per  ton;  fine  tow,  $55  to  $70  per  ton 
(depending  on  number  of  runs). 

“This  tow  is  mostly  used  by  furniture  manufacturers  for  upholster- 
ing purposes,  although  its  uses  this  year  have  become  n little  more 
diversified  as  a substitution  for  import  fibres.” 


Oregon  Chair  Co.,  Portland,  Oregon  “We  are  using  a quality 
known  as  ‘fine  tow,’  which  costs  us,  in  Portland,  $4  6 per  ton.  We  also 
have  used  some  medium  tow,  which  sells  at  points  of  origin  for  about 
$21  to  $24  per  ton.”  

Klopstock  Bros.  Wholesale  Upholstery,  San  Francisco,  California — 
“We  have  not  used  flax  tow  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  freight  rate 
frojm  the  East  is  prohibitive.  The  price  is  from  $18  to  $22  per  ton, 
and  if  you  can  produce  the  same  to  sell  at  that  price  or  cheaper  we 
would  use  it  in  our  manufacture.  We  will  do  all  we  can  to  promote 
the  industry.”  

Hulse-Bradford  Co.,  Upholstery  Goods,  San  Francisco,  California — 
“The  total  consumption  of  upholstery  tow  on  the  Pacific  Coast  amongst 
the  manufacturers  is  about  six  carloads  a year.  This  refers  to  the 
cured  article,  used  for  upholstery  purposes,  for  which  green  tow  would 
not  be  feasible.  The  tow,  to  be  of  practicable  use,  would  have  to  be 
put  up  in  bales  of,  say  150  pounds,  properly  slatted  and  wired.  Loose 
and  bulky  packages  of  this  commodity  are  not  merchantable.  The  mar- 
ket value  would  depend  upon  its  resiliency  and  filling  capacity,  but 
$30  per  ton,  f.  o.  b.  point  of  shipment  would  be  a fair  average  estimate.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


37 


Columbia  Rope  Co.,  Auburn,  N.  Y. — “Flax  should  be  grown  in  this 
country,  and  if  it  can  be  grown  it  would  prove  of  great  value  to  the 
manufacturers,  and  there  would  be  an  enormous  sale  of  same,  as  it  is 
a very  rapidly  increasing  industry. 

"Flax  is  used  in  making  linen  of  all  kinds,  such  as  table  cloths, 
napkins,  shirts,  handkerchiefs,  etc.,  and  has  a durability  two  or  three 
times  as  great  as  cotton. 

“Flaxes  of  all  kinds  vary  in  prices.  Under  normal  conditions  it 
sells  for  from  8 cents  to  16  cents  or  17  cents  per  pound,  according  to 
the  quality,  while  the  tow  sells  for  from  6 cents  to  10  cents.” 


C.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture — “Flax  fibre  is  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  2,000  tons,  or  more,  of  binder  twine,  each  year.  Only  the 
better  grades  of  clean  straight  flax  can  be  successfully  used  for  this 
purpose.  Much  of  the  flax  grown  for  seed  is  too  short  and  too  weedy  to 
be  used  for  binder  twine.  Flax  and  hemp  are  the  only  plants  producing 
fibres  at  all  suited  for  binder  twine  that  may  be  successfully  cultivated 
in  the  United  States.” 


Summers  Linen  Company,  Port  Huron,  Michigan — “All  our  material 
comes  to  us  in  straw  form.  We  do  our  own  retting.  There  is  a strong 
demand  for  good  fibre  and  the  value  of  it  depends  entirely  on  how  it 
is  grown  and  prepared,  values  varying  from  nothing  to  70  cents  per 
pound.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  you  could  grow  excellent  straw  in 
Oregon,  but  unless  it  is  properly  grown  and  prepared  the  value  would  be 
small.  Under  proper  supervision  it  would  be  possible  to  produce  fibre 
from  Oregon  straw,  worth  on  the  market  today  4 0 cents  per  pound.” 


The  Sarnia  Board  of  Trade,  Sarnia,  Ontario,  Canada — “Up  to  the 
present  our  government  has  given  no  assistance  whatever  to  the  flax 
operators,  but  they  are  now  having  men  investigate  the  business  and 
we  are  hopeful  of  having  them  take  an  initiative  in  several  propositions 
for  improving  the  industry  in  Canada.  The  price  received  for  dressed 
flax  this  year  has  averaged  between  18  cents  and  25  cents  per  pound 
for  dew  retted.  The  small  quantity  of  water-retted  flax  sold  for  45 
cents  a pound.  The  different  grades  of  tow  have  run  from  1%  up  to 
16  cents.  Most  of  the  seed  sold  in  this  district  by  the  mill  went  for 
$1.50  per  bushel  right  after  being  threshed.  The  average  yield  of 
White  Blossom  seed  (the  kind  which,  with  Blue  Blossom,  has  proved 
the  most  satisfactory)  has  been  fourteen  bushels  to  the  acre.  Blue 
Blossom  runs  ten  bushels  to  the  acre.  Owing  to  the  fall  being  very 
wet  the, fibre  has  run  from  12  to  16  per  cent,  with  a large  portion  of 
the  lower  rate.  The  water-retted  flax  averaged  a very  high  percentage.” 


J.  T.  Smith,  Flax  Manufacturer,  Hopkins,  Minnesota — “We  pay  from 
$2.50  to  $3.50  per  ton  for  tow  delivered  by  the  farmers  after  it  is 
threshed  at  the  tow  mill.  One  and  one-half  ton  of  good  flax  straw 
will  make  one  ton  of  good  coarse  tow,  which  is  worth  now  at  the  mill 
from  $20  to  $25  per  ton.  Two  tons  of  good  flax  straw  will  make 
one  ton  of  fine  tow,  which  is  worth  now  at  the  mill  from  $30  to  $35 


38 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


per  ton.  We  generally  save  one  bushel  of  flax  seed  in  making  one  ton 
of  tow,  which  at  present  prices  will  more  than  pay  for  the  labor  in 
making  the  tow.  There  is  now  a good  demand  for  tow  made  from  green 
flax  straw.  The  uses  for  green  flax  straw  are  numerous  for  upholster- 
ing furniture  and  insulating  materials,  for  lining  refrigerators,  etc.,  and 
to  manufacture  crash  for  toweling.  For  this  purpose  there  is  no 
expense  in  preparing  the  flax  straw  to  make  green  tow.  Good,  long 
flax  straw  can  be  made  into  spinning  tow,  which  is  worth  from  $60  to 
$100  per  ton.”  

California  Cotton  Mills  Co.,  Oakland,  California — “To  quote  you  the 
present  price  of  flax  would  hardly  be  a fair  guide  to  go  by,  for  flax  at 
the  present  time  is  almost  unobtainable  in  this  country.  Under  ordi- 
nary conditions  tow  sells  from  6 to  9 cents  per  pound,  depending  on  its 
quality  and  cleanliness.  Line  flax  sells  from  11  to  16  cents  per  pound, 
depending  on  its  condition.  At  the  present  time  very  little  tow  can  be 
obtained  for  less  than  8 to  12  cents  per  pound,  and  line  flax  is  selling, 
when  it  can  be  obtained,  from  18  to  25  cents  and  even  30  cents  per 
pound. 

“If  you  get  the  industry  started  in  a commercial  way  in  your  state 
and  have  any  samples  to  submit  to  us,  we  would  be  glad  to  analyze 
them  and  to  report  to  you  what  we  consider  them  worth  and  what  we 
could  afford  to  pay  for  same. 

“Of  course,  you  understand  that  the  high  price  of  flax  at  present  is 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  by  far  the  greatest  percentage  of  flax  has 
been  grown  in  Belgium  and  Russia.  Ireland  has  been  a large  producer 
also,  but  the  Irish  supply  is  practically  all  taken  up  by  the  Irish 
manufacturers.” 


The  Flaxen  Fibre-Down  Co.,  North  Tonavvanda,  New  York,  February 
17,  1916 — “We  average  about  two  tons  of  straw  to  the  acre  in  New 
York,  Michigan  and  Ontario.  The  average  amount  of  seed  realized  per 
ton  is  about  five  bushels — or  about  ten  bushels  to  the  acre.  The 
average  height  of  flax,  as  we  grow  it,  is  about  three  feet.  The  average 
amount  of  fibre  realized  from  our  flax  straw  is  about  20  per  cent.  We 
have  found,  however,  by  testing,  that  Oregon  grown  flax  produces  as 
high  as  25  per  cent  of  fibre,  and  this  Oregon  fibre  is  longer  and  stronger 
than  we  grow  here,  in  addition  to  being  of  much  better  color.  * * * 

We  have  been  paying  the  farmers,  of  late,  $14  per  ton  for  the  flax 
straw.  * * * Our  seed  we  procured  from  Belgium,  Holland  and 

other  European  countries.  * * * Together  with  our  chemists  and 

agricultural  experts  we  have  devoted  our  time  and  efforts  entirely  to 
the  development  and  methods  which  will  extract  the  fibre  in  good 
condition  direct  from  the  green  straw  as  it  comes  from  the  field  without 
any  treatment  whatsoever.  In  this  we  feel  that  we  have  attained  more 
than  ordinary  success.  Certainly  our  realizations  have  far  exceeded 
our  expectations.  * * * We  make  a very  profitable  and  durable 

yarn  suitable  for  making  toweling,  crash,  canvas,  etc.,  from  the  green 
flax  fibre  direct.  At  the  same  time  we  have  machines  and  methods 
whereby  we  use  every  particle  of  the  short  waste  fibre  in  making 
beautiful  resilient  batting  from  which  we  manufacture  two  attractive 
household  necessities — -mattresses  and  comforters.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


• 39 


The  Northern  Insulating  Co.,  Minnesota  Transfer  (St.  Paul),  Minn. 

— “We  are  in  the  market  this  season — 1915  to  1916 — for  30,000  tons 
of  threshed  flax  straw.  In  the  manufacture  of  our  product — flaxlinum 
— we  can  use  the  ordinary  threshed  flax  straw.  In  the  three  states 
mentioned  above,  the  straw  will  average  approximately  eight  inches  in 
length  and  will  yield  approximately  one-third  ton  to  the  acre.  Were 
the  farmer  to  cultivate  his  land  more  thoroughly  at  seeding  time — - 
smooth  it  down  after  seeding,  sowing  three  pecks  to  the  acre,  and,  in 
harvesting,  cut  the  crop  very  close  to  the  ground — the  yield  of  flax 
straw  would  be  very  close  to  one  ton  to  the  acre. 

“This  season  we  are  paying  at  an  average  of  $8.00  per  ton,  f.  o.  b. 
Minnesota  Transfer  for  dry,  sound,  baled  flax  straw  averaging  eight 
inches  in  length  and  containing  not  to  exceed  10  per  cent  of  foreign 
growth;  subject  to  the  weights  of  the  Western  Weighing  Association  at 
destination  for  final  settlement.  This  price  has  been  quoted  by  us  to 
the  farmers  in  North  and  South  Dakota  as  well  as  in  Minnesota,  and 
nets  the  farmer  at  an  average  of  $5.00  per  ton,  f.  o.  b.  shipping  point 
for  the  baled  flax  straw,  providing  cars  are  loaded  to  the  minimum 
required  by  the  railroad  company.  However,  the  freight  rate  is  so 
high  from  points  west  of  the  Missouri  River  that  we  have  been  unable 
to  buy  any  of  the  straw  in  that  section. 

The  freight  rate  from  Oregon  to  this  point  would  make  the  price 
of  straw  prohibitive  for  our  purpose,  and  the  freight  rate  from  Oregon 
points  to  Chicago  and  eastern  markets  where  upholstery  tow  is  con- 
sumed, would  also  make  the  price  prohibitive  for  that  purpose,  as 
seagrass,  southern  moss  and  foreign  tow  could  be  bought  at  eastern 
points  much  cheaper  than  the  present  freight  rates  would  allow  tow  to 
be  delivered  in  the  east,  from  Oregon. 

“However,  for  upholstering  purposes  in  the  State  of  Oregon  or  on 
the  Coast,  for  the  benefit  of  upholstered  furniture  manufacturers,  it 
would  no  doubt  pay  to  put  in  a small  plant  at  some  central  point  in 
Oregon  where  flax  was  raised  and  manufacture  sufficient  tow  to  take 
care  of  the  western  trade. 

“The  great  drawback  to  the  successful  use  of  flax  fibre  is  the  dis- 
tance between  the  area  in  which  it  is  produced  and  the  market  for  the 
manufactured  product.” 


Carman  Manufacturing  Co.,  Portland,  Oregon — “We  are  using  in 
our  Portland  factory  between  two  and  three  tons  of  flax  tow  a year, 
and  there  are  about  fifteen  other  factories  on  this  Coast  that  are  con- 
suming about  the  same  quantity,  and,  of  course,  there  are  innumerable 
small  shops  that  would  use  a ton  or  so  during  that  period.  The  demand 
is  constantly  increasing  for  the  class  of  goods  that  require  this  kind 
of  material  in  -its  construction,  and,  in  consequence,  there  is  an 
increasing  demand  for  a good  grade  of  tow. 

“As  to  the  comparative  values  of  flax  vs.  tow:  These  materials  are 
entirely  different  and  one  could  not  replace  the  other  any  more  than 
you  could  use  paint  instead  of  shingles  in  covering  a roof.  For 
upholstering  purposes  the  tow  is  the  foundation  of  the  filling  and  takes 
all  the  strain  and  wear  and  tear  of  the  spring  work.  Over  the  tow  is 


40 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


used  a filling  of  hair  or  moss,  and  cotton  sometimes  is  used  on  top  of 
these  two  fillings  to  give  a smooth,  soft  surface;  but  on  the  best  of 
work  cotton  is  eliminated  entirely.” 


Roberti  Brothers,  Los  Angeles,  California,  April  15,  1916 — ‘‘Reply- 
ing to  yours  of  the  eleventh  instant,  wish  to  state  that  we  use  flax 
only  m our  twine,  of  which  we  consume  about  2,000  pounds  per  year.” 


Bailey-Schmitz  Company,  Upholstery  and  Bedding,  Los  Angeles, 
California- — ‘‘Our  supply  of  flax  tow  comes  mostly  from  Wisconsin  or 
Minnesota.  We  do  not  use  a great  deal;  possibly  two  carloads  a year, 
but  could  use  more  if  the  prices  were  not  so  high.  As  freight  from  the 
Wisconsin  market  is  about  $24  per  ton,  while  the  cost  of  tow,  f.  o.  b. 
Wisconsin,  ranges  from  $20  to  $35,  according  to  the  quality. 

“The  amount  of  tow  used  on  the  Pacific  Coast  would  be  hard  for 
us  to  estimate  as  some  upholstering  concerns  use  very  little  and  others 
use  a great  deal.  It  seems  to  the  writer  if  tow  could  be  manufactured  as 
cheap  in  Oregon  as  it  could  in  Wisconsin,  and  with  a much  less  rate  of 
freight  from  Oregon  points  to  California  points,  the  use  of  same  could 
possibly  be  increased  double  or  triple,  as  it  would  be  used  more 
extensively  instead  of  the  excelsior,  that  is  now  used.” 


Klopstock  Brothers,  Wholesale  Upholstery,  Bedding,  Woven  Wire 
Springs,  Tables,  San  Francisco,  April  4,  1916 — “We,  at  present,  use  very 
little  tow,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  price  plus  freight  is  almost  prohi- 
bitive. The  price  is  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  $30  per  ton, 
and  the  L.  C.  L.  rate  would  probably  be  $3.20,  making  the  cost  6 y2 
cents  f.  o.  b.  this  city. 

“There  are  a great  many  purposes  to  which  tow  might  be  used, 
not  only  in  the  manufacture  of  upholstered  furniture  but  for  mattresses, 
if  the  price  was  right. 

“We  would  assume  that  it  would  be  to  your  advantage  to  sell  tow 
at  any  profitable  figure  irrespective  of  what  the  market  might  be  from 
a commercial  standpoint.” 


Conrad  Townsite  Company,  Conrad,  Montana — “Flax  is  raised  very 
successfully  in  this  part  of  Montana,  some  of  the  crops  grown  for  the 
Northern  Flax  Fiber  Company  yielding  as  much  as  three  and  one-half 
and  four  tons  of  straw  to  the  acre.  The  soil  is  a heavy  loam  and  seems 
to  be  ideal  for  flax  raising.  Of  course,  flax  yielding  as  above  stated  is 
grown  on  irrigated  land  and  is  watered  under  the  direction  of  the  flax 
company.  The  water  is  derived  from  the  Conrad-Valier  Irrigation 
Project,  and  is  nothing  but  pure  mountain  water.  As  I understand  it, 
the  retting  process  used  by  the  flax  company  here  is  a bacteriological 
process.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


41 


Barker  Brothers,  Upholstery,  Los  Angeles,  California — “If  prices  for 
flax  tow  were  satisfactory  we  could  use  three  or  four  cars  a year.  East- 
ern prices  are  from  $15  to  $20  a ton.  A large  amount  of  flax  tow  could 
be  used  on  this  Coast  if  quoted  at  right  prices.  We  would  like  to  get  a 
car  at  once  if  it  could  be  purchased  f.  o.  b.  this  city  at  $40  a ton.” 


Washington  Parlor  Furniture  Company,  Tacoma,  Washington — “We 
use  about  20  tons  of  flax  tow,  of  a good  quality  per  year,  for  which  we 
pay  $44  a ton,  f.  o.  b.  Tacoma.” 


International  Harvester  Company,  Chicago,  Illinois,  April  12,  1916 
— “You  have  been  correctly  informed  regarding  our  expensive  experi- 
ments with  flax  as  a material  for  binder  twine.  There  is  no  difficulty 
about  the  strength  and  general  qualities  of  flax  fibre.  Even  an  inferior 
quality  of  flax  produces  a good  strong  fibre,  but  there  are  some  innerent 
difficulties  which  we  have  been  unable  to  solve.  All  our  efforts  were  m 
the  direction  of  utilizing  ‘green’  fibre.  We  simply  cured  it  in  the  field 
and  then  extracted  the  fibre  without  the  flax  having  gone  through  the 
retting  process.  This  is  absolutely  necessary,  so  far  as  the  manufacture 
of  binder  twine  is  concerned,  for  the  reason  that  after  flax  has  been 
retted  the  fibre  is  too  valuable  to  be  used  for  binder  twine  or  any  cheap 
cordage.  The  cost  of  producing  flax  fibre  through  the  retting  process 
makes  it  prohibitive  for  our  use,  and  the  fine,  soft,  retted  fibre  (very 
valuable  for  other  purposes)  does  not — as  strange  as  it  may  seem- — 
make  a satisfactory  twine. 

“Twine  made  from  the  green  fibre  contains  some  properties  which 
seem  to  be  attractive  to  crickets,  grasshoppers  and  other  insects.  In 
addition  to  this  and  still  more  important,  a sort  of  retting  process  will 
take  place  after  the  twine  has  been  used  and  while  the  grain  is  still 
in  the  field,  so  that  the  twine  will  disintegrate  and  very  often  pull 
apart,  leaving  the  grain  loose.  We  did  not  discover  this  latter  fact  for 
"several  years  and  gave  the  insects  credit  for  eating  a greater  proportion 
of  the  bands  than  the  facts  warranted. 

“The  result  of  our  experiments  leads  us  to  believe  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  make  a satisfactory  twine  from  green  flax,  and  that  produced 
from  retted  flax  is  too  high  in  price  and  not  satisfactory  in  quality.” 


Angelus  Couch  & Furniture  Manufacturing  Co.,  Los  Angeles,  Cal- 
ifornia, April  12,  1916 — “We  use  a carload  of  tow  a year.  The  supply 
is  available  at  all  times.  Quality  is  fine,  and  medium  grades  $38  f.  o.  b. 
Los  Angeles.  We  use  it  in  upholstering  only.  As  to  the  last  question 
we  cannot  make  estimate.  We  would  judge  that  there  are  about  eight 
or  ten  cars  used  in  Los  Angeles  annually.” 


Continental  Bedding  Manufacturing  Co.,  San  Francisco,  California, 
April  13,  1916 — “We  are  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  eleventh 
instant,  and  in  reply  will  state  that  the  tow  that  we  use  is  the  result  of 
the  combings  of  the  flax.  We  use  from  four  to  five  carloads  per  year. 


42 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


“We  enclose  under  separate  cover  sample  of  what  we  are  using  at 
present.  The  price  of  the  quality  of  this  sample  is  about  $25  per  ton 
f.  o.  b.  South  Dakota,  which  would  make  the  price  approximately  $40 
per  ton  f.  o.  b.  San  Francisco.” 


L.  AY.  Stockwell  Company,  Los  Angeles,  California,  April  14,  1916 — 
“Answering  yours  of  April  eleventh  in  regard  to  our  consumption  of 
what  is  commercially  known  as  tow,  would  say  that  wTe  probably  would 
require  a matter  of  something  like  40  tons  to  carry  us  through  for  a 
matter  of  twelve  months. 

“Ordinarily,  the  price  would  range  from  $22  to  $45  according  to  the 
quality.  We  are  submitting  you  under  separate  package,  a sample  of 
two  different  qualities  that  we  have  lately  bought,  which  is  made, 
presumably,  from  what  is  termed  the  straw. 

“If  you  develop  anything  that  we  can  regularly  use  in  our  business, 
shall  be  glad  indeed  to  have  you  submit  us  sample  with  prices.” 


T.  G.  Todd  & Co.,  Import  and  Export  Merchants,  42  Broadway,  New 
York,  May  15,  1916 — “We  are  interested  in  securing  a quantity  of  flax 
suitable  for  weaving  into  heavy  flax  cloth,  and  if  such  merchandise  is 
produced  in  your  section  of  the  country  we  will  be  very  glad  to  be 
placed  in  touch  with  the  parties  who  can  offer  same.” 


VARIETY  OF  USES  FOR  FLAX 

One  of  the  most  encouraging  features  for  the  production  of  flax  in 
Oregon  is  the  fact  that  flax  is  being  used  in  so  many  different  ways 
and  for  so  many  different  purposes  that  there  is  a very  strong  growing 
demand  for  the  fibre,  for  the  tow,  and  for  the  straw  itself. 

It  is  being  extensively  used  in  manufacturing  of  mattresses,  pillows, 
comforters,  etc.  The  variety  of  things  for  which  there  is  a demand 
for  flax  is  constantly  growing  and  this  brings  an  increased  demand 
for  its  production.  This  will  undoubtedly  result  in  the  development 
of  many  manufacturing  industries  being  established  in  the  State  of 
Oregon,  as  soon  as  there  is  sufficient  flax  produced  here. 

Another  encouraging  feature  in  the  matter  of  flax  production 
which  comes  as  the  result  of  our  world’s  survey  of  methods  of  handling 
it  is  that  the  old  style  of  hand  labor  is  undoubtedly  going  to  be  done 
away  with.  Flax  will  be  cut  with  machinery,  threshed  by  machinery, 
baled  and  retted  by  power  methods  of  handling,  scutched  and  manu- 
factured all  by  machinery  methods.  The  great  amount  of  hand  labor 
which  has  heretofore  been  necessary  for  the  growing,  and  handling 
and  preparing  the  crop  for  market  is  no  longer  necessary.  There  is 
a great  development  going  on  throughout  the  United  States  and 
Canada  along  these  lines  which  are  clearly  shown  in  this  bulletin. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


43 


MANUFACTURED  PRODUCTS  USING  FLAX 

Linen;  shirtings;  dress  goods;  lace;  knit  underwear;  toweling;  fish 
lines;  netting;  seine  twine;  wrapping  twine;  binding  twine;  shoe 
thread;  bookbinder’s  thread;  upholstery  stuffing;  insulating  for 
refrigerators,  refrigerating  cars,  steam  pipes,  conduits,  sound  proof 
walls  and  floors,  etc.;  electrical  insulation;  packing  for  glassware  and 
crockery;  building  paper;  paper  pulp. 

A list  of  factories  using  flax  for  the  manufacture  of  the  above 
articles,  and  so  offering  possible  markets  for  flax  tow  and  fibre  is  on 
fiie  with  the  Department  of  Commercial  and  Industrial  Service,  School 
of  Commerce,  University  of  Oregon,  and  will  be  furnished  on  request  to 
anyone  desiring  the  information. 


Production  in  the  United  States 

(United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.) 

“In  the  United  States  flax  is  raised  primarily  for  the  sake  of  the 
seed,  much  less  use  being  made  of  the  fibre.  The  production  of  flaxseed 
is  almost  wholly  confined  to  the  North  Central  and  Mountain  States. 
In  1909  the  value  of  this  crop,  $28,971,000,  represented  0.5  per  cent  of 
the  total  for  all  crops. 

“The  cultivation  of  flax  is  one  of  the  oldest  agricultural  industries 
in  the  United  States,  but  it  has  been  forced  to  move  steadily  westward 
to  new  lands,  as  it  became  unprofitable  in  the  older  states.  It  was 
thought  that  flax  exhausted  the  soil  and  could  thus  only  be  grown  for 
a few  years  in  one  locality,  but  recent  research  has  shown  that  the  real 
cause  of  ‘flax  sick’  land  is  a disease,  the  germ  of  which,  living  ever  in 
the  soil,  soon  makes  it  imposible  to  produce  flax  where  this  disease  is 
prevalent.  There  are  areas  in  this  country  where  soil  and  climate  con- 
ditions are  as  well  suited  to  the  growth  of  flax  as  anywhere  in  the 
world,  yet  nearly  all  the  flax  fibre  used  in  our  manufactures  is  imported. 

“Reduction  in  the  cost  of  producing  the  fibre  must  be  brought  about 
mainly  by  the  introduction  of  improved  methods  of  handling  the  crop 
and  the  substitution  of  machinery  for  the  large  amount  of  skilled  hand 
labor  which  has  heretofore  been  regarded  as  necessary  in  the 
preparation  of  the  fibre. 

“While  Linum  usitatissimum  is  considered  the  cultivated  fibre 
species,  botanists  recognize  upward  of  one  hundred  species  in  this 
genus.  In  many  instances  the  distinctions  between  these  species  are 
so  slight  that  the  agriculturist  or  the  industrialist  would  scarcely  recog- 
nize them  and  they  are  therefore  of  botanical  rather  than  economic 
interest. 

“In  central  and  northern  Russia,  in  Holland,  Belgium,  Ireland  and 
northern  Italy,  flax  is  cultivated  primarily  for  the  production  of  fibre. 
In  southern  Russia,  British  India,  Argentina,  and  the  United  States,  it 
is  cultivated  almost  exclusively  for  seed  production. 

“All  of  the  fibre  flax  in  this  country,  as  well  as  that  of  Ireland, 
Belgium  and  Holland,  is  grown  from  seed  of  Russian  origin.  The  plants 
deteriorate  when  grown  from  seeds  of  the  third  or  fourth  generation 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


44 


in  this  country,  and,  unless  special  attention  is  given  to  selection  and 
the  production  of  improved  strains,  it  is  necessary  to  import  new  stock 
every  three  or  four  years. 

“The  possibilities  which  the  cultivation  of  flax  fibre  offers  to  the 
farmers  of  the  West  and  Northwest  (in  the  United  States)  is  only 
equalled  by  the  surprise  that  such  possibilities  have  thus  far  been 
neglected,  if,  indeed,  they  are  not  altogether  unknown.  The  climate, 
soil,  and  conditions  generally  in  the  Northwest  are  very  favorable  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  fibre  as.  well  as  the  seed.  After  a short  experience 
as  to  the  primary  manipulation  or  handling  of  the  flax  fibre,  our  farm- 
ers would  produce  flax  which  would  compare  favorably  with  the  best 
varieties  of  the  fibre.  It  seems  strange  that  a practical  people  like 
ourselves  should  for  years  have  been  satisfied  to  cultivate  flax  for  the 
seed  at  a value  of  about  $15  per  acre,  and  at  the  same  time  we  allow 
600  pounds  of  flax  fibre  per  acre  to  rot  on  the  ground,  this  fibre,  after 
being  manipulated,  having  a value  of  $186  per  ton.  There  should  be 
a general  and  persistent  effort  made  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  the 
flax  fibre  throughout  the  United  States,  with  the  view  of  establishing 
factories  for  the  manufacture  of  twine  and  textiles.” 


IMPORTS  INTO  UNITED  STATES 


The  countries  of  origin  of  the  imports  during  1915  were  as  follows: 


FLAX  FIBRE 


Belgium  . 

Russia  in  Europe 
United  Kingdom  . 

Canada  

Other  countries  .. 


Tons 
122 
336 
3,740 
244 
: 243 


Value 
$ 57,859 

77,643 
1,628,052 
37,702 
74,445 


FLAXSEED 


Canada  

Argentina  

British  India  .... 
Other  countries 


4,694  $1,875,701 


Bushels 

6,629,860 

3,927,542 

39,990 

68,823 


Value 
$ 8,843,489 
4,403,987 
50,269 
76,791 


10,666,215  $13,374,536 


Destinations  of  exports  during  1915: 

LINSEED  OR  FLAXSEED  OIL  CAKE* 


Pounds 

Belgium  26,931,718 

France  1,375,773 

Netherlands  431,248,843 

United  Kingdom  22,829,656 

Other  countries  42,408,444 


Value 
$ 414,301 
20,945 
7,499,917 
351,591 
761,307 


524,794,434  $9,048,061 

FLAXSEED  DURING  1914 


Long  Tons 

Belgium  .1,266 

Russia  in  Europe  2,735 

United  Kingdom  ... t 5,076 

Other  countries  808 


9,885 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


45 


FLAXSEED  PRODUCTION,  COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES 

(United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

“The  seed  is  rich  in  an  oil  of  such  superior  drying  qualities  that  it  is 
an  indispensable  ingredient  in  paint  and  varnish,  and  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  linoleum,  oilcloth,  printer’s  ink,  patent  leather  and  a few  other 
products. 

“As  a business  proposition,  flax  is  almost  universally  raised,  either 
chiefly  for  the  fibre  or  exclusively  for  the  seed,  either  as  a source  of 
raw  material  for  the  linen  factory  or  for  the  linseed  oil  mill. 

“In  1791  exports  of  flaxseed  from  the  United  States  amounted  to 
292,460  bushels,  a larger  quantity,  it  is  curious  to  note,  than  was 
exported  in  any  year  thereafter,  until  1892. 

“Imports  from  India  continued  to  figure  in  the  eastern  markets, 
usually  to  the  extent  of  from  one-half  to  two  and  one-half  million 
bushels  a year,  until  1892.  In  that  year  the  United  States,  for  the 
first  time,  took  rank  among  the  surplus  flaxseed  producing  nations  of 
the  world. 

“There  are  two  different  varieties  of  flaxseed  produced  in  the 
United  States,  the  small-grained  seed  of  the  Southwest,  usually  credited 
by  crushers  with  yielding  an  average  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  pounds  of 
oil  to  the  bushel  (56  pounds)  of  seed;  and  the  larger-grained  seed  of 
the  Northwest,  credited  by  the  same  authorities  with  a yield  of  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  pounds  of  oil  to  the  bushel;  the  yield  in  all  cases, 
of  course,  varies  greatly  with  the  climatic  conditions  under  which  the 
crops  are  grown  and  harvested. 

“The  principal  product  derived  from  flaxseed  is  linseed  oil.  The 
residue,  after  the  extraction  of  the  oil,  constitutes  the  only  by-product, 
linseed-oil  cake,  a valuable  cattle  food,  which,  when  ground  for  feeding 
purposes,  is  known  on  the  market  as  linseed-oil  meal. 

“In  the  oil  making  process,  there  is  practically  no  waste,  and  on  an 
average  for  the  entire  country  it  is  generally  accepted  by  the  crushers 
that  a bushel  of  flaxseed  (56  pounds)  is  converted  by  manufacture  into 
18%  pounds  of  oil  (2%  gallons),  and  37%  pounds  of  oil  cake. 

“The  actual  manufacture  of  linseed  oil  in  the  United  States,  how- 
ever, is  subject  to  a somewhat  rigid  limitation,  arising  from  the  fact 
that  for  this  product  there  is  little  foreign  demand.  Importing  nations, 
as  a rule,  import  the  raw  material  in  the  shape  of  flaxseed  and  make 
their  own  oil,  and  the  foreign  demand  upon  the  United  States  amounts 
to  only  about  100,000  gallons  a year  (1,212,133  gallons  in  1915). 

“Linseed  oil  has  a field  of  usefulness  peculiarly  its  own.  It  has  no 
uses  as  an  illuminant,  none  as  a lubricant;  and,  although  small  quanti- 
ties fresh  from  the  presses  are  utilized,  curiously  enough,  as  a cooking 
grease  by  an  element  of  the  foreign  population  in  some  of  the  large 
cities,  commercially  it  is  valueless  as  an  edible  oil.  In  fact,  linseed  oil 
is  adapted  to  none  of  the  industrial  or  edible  uses  to  which  other  oils 
are  ordinarily  put,  whether  they  be  vegetable,  animal  or  mineral.  But 
possessing  in  an  exceptional  degree  the  property  of  absorbing  oxygen 
upon  exposure  to  the  air,  it  is  essentially  a ‘drying’  oil,  and,  com- 
pounded on  the  one  hand  with  divers  pigments  and  on  the  other  with 
various  gums,  it  finds  a field  of  usefulness  in  the  composition  of 


Fiscal  year  ending  June  30 


46 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Flaxseed  or  Linseed — 

Bushels  Bushels  Bushels  \ Bushels  \ Bushels  j 

10,499,227  I 6,841,806  12,995,250  5,294,296  8,127,774  8,653,235  10,571,410  ! 10,666,215  13', 374, 536 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


47 


paints  and  varnishes  to  the  almost  total  exclusion  of  all  other  oils. 
Its  monopoly  in  this  field  is  so  complete  that  it  has  no  adulterants, 
except  those  which  detract  greatly  from  its  economic  value,  and  no 
substitutes,  except  possibly  the  single  competitor,  corn  oil.  Linseed 
oil  is  also  utilized  to  the  practical  exclusion  of  other  oils  in  the  manu- 
facture of  linoleum,  oilcloth,  oil  silk,  patent  and  enameled  leather, 
and  printer’s  ink.  Probably  65  to  75  per  cent  of  linseed  oil  manu- 
factured in  the  United  States  is  used  in  some  form  of  paint  or  varnish. 
The  bulk  of  the  remainder  is  used  for  linoleum  and  oilcloth,  although 
about  a million  gallons  are  used  for  printer’s  ink.  It  also  is  used  for 
the  manufacture  of  waterproof  fabrics,  not  made  of  rubber,  as  an 
enamel  for  buttons  made  of  wood  pulp,  in  the  manufacture  of  opaque 
window  shades,  for  a few  medicinal  purposes,  and  for  a soap  especially 
valuable  for  washing  woodwork. 

“Linseed  Oil  Cake — Linseed  oil  cake  is  in  very  limited  demand  in 
the  United  States,  but  finds  an  extensive  market  abroad — used  only 
as  a cattle  food,  and  highly  prized  by  European  stock  raisers.  Almost 
80  per  cent  of  this  valuable  cattle  food  (exceptionally  valuable  from 
an  economic  point  of  view,  both  as  a fattening  food  and  because  of  the 
high  fertilizing  properties  of  the  manurial  residue)  is  shipped  abroad. 

“In  the  order  of  the  amount  of  their  takings,  the  oil  cake  shipped 
from  this  country  goes  to  Belgium,  Holland,  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Germany. 

“Manufacture — The  most  definite  estimate  that  can  be  made  as  to 
the  capacity  of  the  average  linseed  press  is  that  of  125  to  150  bushels 
per  day.  The  average  number  of  days  that  a press  can  be  economically 
operated  in  a year  is  about  250,  the  annual  capacity  of  a press  is  from 
32,250  to  37,500  bushels.  The  number  of  presses  to  a mill,  of  course, 
vary  widely,  mills  of  twelve  presses  being  the  most  common.  Probably 
not  far  from  70  per  cent  of  the  flaxseed  crushed  in  the  United  States 
is  ordinarily  crushed  at  the  four  great  centers,  Buffalo,  Minneapolis, 
New  York  and  Chicago.” 


FLAXSEED 

Acreage,  production  and  total  farm  value,  by  states,  1914: 
(Table  compiled  by  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 


Acreage 

Acres 

Average 
yield 
per  acre 
Bushels 

Produc- 

tion 

Bushels 

Average 
farm  price 
per  bushel 
Dec.  1 
Cents 

Farm 

value 

Dec.  1 
Dollars 

Wisconsin  

8,000 

13.5 

108,000 

125 

135,000 

Minnesota  

315,000 

9.3 

2,930,000 

128 

3,750,000 

Iowa  

20,000 

9.5 

190,000 

120 

228,000 

Missouri  

8,000 

8.0 

64,000 

104 

67,000 

North  Dakota  

840,000 

8.3 

6,972,000 

128 

8,924,000 

South  Dakota  

320,000 

7.5 

2,400,000 

123 

; 2,952,000 

Nebraska  

7,000 

7.0 

49,000 

119 

58,000 

Kansas  

45,000 

6.0 

270,000 

125 

338,000 

Montana  

320,000 

8.0 

2,560,000 

120 

3,072,000 

Colorado  

2,000 

8.0 

16,000 

100 

16,000 

United  States  

1,885,000 

8.3 

14,559,000 

125.6 

19,540,000 

United  States  (1915).... 

1,367,000 

10.1 

j 13,845,000 

1 

174 

24,080,000 

The  following  table,  compiled  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  shows  the  area  and  pro- 
duction of  the  flax-growing  countries  of  the  world  for  the  fiscal  years  ending  June  30,  1911,  1912  and  1913: 


48 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


o 

«*<-. 
5-.  O 
£2 

•f*  00 

fe-e 


qj  o 
$>2 


(M  cr ) a Q 
CO  O to  o 


H M O lO  N H 
H H W W 05  H N 

LO  03  05  O O 03  O 

LO  H 00  (M  03  rH  of 

<M  t-  03 


C0O00C00005OCOrHO05 

o3or^oi>-o3cocoa50t^ 

O O 00  O O 05  LO  rH  O LO  rH 

QC  03~  to"  o'  o'  LO  N H LO 

CO  LO  rf  03  00  <M 


CO  05  03  CO  03  rH  t>» 

to  CO  00  O O 00 

oo  to  tO  Tt*  CO  00  CO 

t>^  to"  rH 


oo  o to  co  05 

O O 03  CO  t>- 

CO  CO  to 


COOCOOOCJCO^ 
CO  to  H t>-  H 
O 1-H  CO  to  oo  00  to 


03  03  LO  03 


CO  CO  CO  00  (M  l> 


olo>ot*«ooloo3cotho5 
^b-C5(N^aHHC5Tt(|> 
CO  O LO  rf  CO  00  LO  rt*  CO  LO 


03  CO  t>-  CO 


05  03  CO  05 


rH  to  CO 


t>  l>  00  Ol 
CO  LO  o 
L-  03 


ct 


« .£  « ‘t  to 


^ H m co  h PQ<^^ 


No  official  data. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


49 


THE  INDUSTRY  IN  OIL  SEEDS 

(United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

"The  United  States  has,  within  the  past  quarter  century,  become  by 
far  the  heaviest  producer  of  oleaginous  seeds  in  the  world.  This  has 
been  wholly  due  to  the  utilization  of  the  cotton  crop  and  the  expansion 
of  flaxseed  cultivation. 

‘‘The  domestic  consumption  of  all  oils  of  this  class  amounted  in 
1860  to  less  than  9,000,000  gallons.  At  the  present  time  there  is 
annually  manufactured  from  the  domestic  crops  of  flaxseed  and  cotton- 
seed, a product  of  from  160,000,000  to  170,000,000  gallons  of  oil, 
three-fourths  of  which  probably  enters  into  home  consumption. 

‘‘It  was  not  until  1891  that  domestic  supply  overtook  demand.  The 
European  demand  for  flaxseed  is  supplied  almost  wholly  by  Russia, 
Argentina  and  British  India,  with  a small  percentage  from  the  United 
States;  but  the  six  leading  importing  countries  for  oleaginous  seeds, 
Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Holland,  Belgium  and  Denmark,  use 
about  3,000,000  tons  annually,  less  by  half  a million  tons  than  the 
quantities  of  cottonseed  and  flaxseed  annually  used  in  manufacture  in 
the  United  States.” 


LINSEED  OIL 

Frederick  Walton,  of  London,  happened  to  notice  the  film  or  skin 
that  had  formed  on  the  top  of  a can  of  paint  which  had  been  left  open 
for  several  days.  Picking  the  skin  up  and  working  it  into  a ball  with 
his  fingers,  he  was  surprised  at  its  toughness  and  elasticity.  At  once 
his  active  mind  began  to  wonder  whether  this  peculiar  property  of 
linseed  oil — changing  into  a rubber-like  mass  when  exposed  to  the  air — 
could  not  be  turned  to  some  good  purpose.  Experiment  followed 
experiment  and  the  result  was  the  invention  of  linoleum  in  1863. 

Linseed  oil,  from  which  linoleum  takes  its  name,  is  extracted  from 
the  seed  of  ordinary  flax. 

The  seed  not  only  yields  the  most  valuable  drying  oil  known  to 
commerce,  but  in  some  countries  serves  as  an  article  of  food.  The 
Abyssinians  eat  it  roasted  and  the  oil  is  used  as  an  edible  in  certain 
parts  of  Russia,  Poland  and  Hungary. 

In  extracting  the  oil,  the  first  step  is  to  clean  the  seed  thoroughly  by 
blowing  out  the  dust  and  dirt.  It  is  then  crushed  between  corrugated 
steel  rollers,  heated,  and  run  onto  small  collapsible  frames  with  mohair 
bottoms.  These  frames,  containing  the  oil-bearing  meal,  are  placed 
one  on  top  of  the  other  in  large  presses,  and  the  oil  then  expressed 
by  means  of  a hydraulic  ram.  The  last  step  is  the  filtering  process, 
after  which  the  oil  is  to  run  into  storage  tanks  and  thence  transferred 
to  tank  cars  for  shipment. 


50 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Notes  on  Flax  Production,  Conditions  and 
Prices  in  Foreign  Countries 

CANADA 

The  following  are  extracts  from  reports  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce: 

Production  of  Canadian  Flax 

(Consul  Henry  P.  Starrett,  Fort  William,  Ontario,  July  9,  1915) 

“It  is  interesting  to  note  the  importance  of  Canada  as  a flax-pro- 
ducing country,  the  total  production  in  the  last  five  year  (calendar) 
having  been  as  folows: 

Bushels 


1910  . .. 4,244,566 

1911  10  075,500 

1912  26.130,000 

1913  17,539,000 

1914  7,175,200 


“The  largest  part  of  the  crop  was  produced  in  the  Province  of  Sas- 
katchewan, with  Alberta  and  Manitoba  furnishing  the  most  of  the 
balance  in  the  order  named.  The  great  decease  in  the  1914  crop 
was  brought  about  by  the  low  prices  received  for  the  crop  of  the 
previous  year,  together  with  the  unfavorable  weather  conditions  which 
prevailed  throughout  the  growing  area.  At  present,  however,  the 
export  price  for  this  product  ranges  from  $1.50  to  $1.60  per  bushel, 
and  the  indications  are  that  the  crop  for  1915  will  be  considerably 
larger  than  that  of  last  year. 

“The  total  flaxseed  exports,  showing  quantities  and  values,  from 
Canada  during  the  fiscal  years  of  1912,  1913,  and  1914  (year  ending 
March  31),  were  as  follows: 


COUNTRIES 

Bushels 

Value 

1912 

United  States  

991,802 

$ 1,802,894 

United  Kingdom  

495,496  i 

1.004,888 

All  other  

17,230 

■ 

1,504,528 

34,460 

Total 

$ 2,842,242 

1913 

United  States  

7,561,004 

$11,885,186 

United  Kingdom  

2,536,336 

4,537,360 

All  other  

26,353  ! 

26,353 

Total 

10,123,693 

$16,448,899 

191Jf 

United  States  

10,164,536 

$11,910,681 

United  Kingdom  

8,579,713 

10,482,556 

2,423,096 

All  other  

1,903,078 

Total 

20,647,327 

$24,816,333 

1 

FLAX  BULLETIN 


51 


“During  1914  a considerable  market  was  being  developed  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe,  the  exports  of  Belgium  having  been  valued  at 
$1,036,003;  to  the  Netherland,  $898,763;  to  Germany,  $320,409;  and 
to  France  $295,427.” 

“Destination  of  Flaxseed  Exports — In  view  of  the  interest  which 
American  manufacturers  of  linseed  and  other  products  have  in  the 
Canadian  production  of  flaxseed,  it  is  important  to  note  that  the 
United  States  is  Canada’s  largest  customer  for  this  product,  the  United 
Kingdom  being  a close  second. 


Previous  to  the  war  Canada  produced  5 per  cent  of  the  world’s 
crop  of  flax. 


Revival  in  Flax-Fibre  Growing  in  Ontario 

(Consul  Fred  C.  Slater,  Sarnia,  Canada,  September  4) 

“Flax  is  quite  extensively  grown  in  various  parts  of  Canada,  par- 
ticularly in  the  northwestern  provinces.  However,  the  production  of 
flax  for  fibre  purposes  has  been  almost  negligible  in  quantity — prac- 
tically all  of  it  having  been  in  the  Sarnia  consular  district,  where  the 
climate,  soil,  and  water  conditions  are  most  suitable.  Recently  the 
industry  received  a new  impetus,  as  a result  of  finding  water  excellently 
suitable  for  retting  purposes.  Interest  in  raising  flax  has  therefore 
been  revived,  as  the  retting  with  this  water  produces  a quality  not 
heretofore  obtained. 

“It  is  reported  that  half  a century  ago  some  seventeen  prosperous 
scutch  mills  operated  in  this  province.  One  pioneer  of  the  industry 
relates  that  in  one  season  he  purchased  26,000  tons  of  Canadian  flax, 
while  other  buyers  did  equally  well.  But  those  were  times  of  cheaper 
labor,  more  new  ‘breaking’  land,  and  less  keen  competition.  It  is 
claimed  that  by  1914  the  number  of  mills  in  operation  had  fallen  to  less 
than  a dozen.  This  year,  however,  there  are  twenty  in  operation  to 
handle  the  1915  crop,  which  is  three  times  greater  in  acreage  than 
that  of  1914. 

“For  the  last  two  or  three  years  a few  men  of  this  Province  have 
given  special  and  careful  attention  to  the  raising  of  flax  fibre  and 
have  met  with  exceptional  encouragement.  The  raising  of  the  product 
was  considerably  stimulated  because  of  the  European  war  increasing 
the  price  of  the  fibre  from  $0.12  and  $0.14  to  $0.22  per  pound.  This, 
together  with  the  already  noted  discovery  of  better  water  for  retting 
purposes,  has,  for  the  time  being,  brought  flax  growing  to  the  fore  in 
this  vicinity.  Recently  men  from  Ireland  and  New  Jersey  who  are 
interested  in  flax  have  gone  over  the  ground  in  this  locality  and  have 
made  very  optimistic  reports  as  to  the  growing  of  this  commodity. 
Many  of  the  old  idle  mills  are  being  refitted  and  brought  back  to  service. 


52 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


“The  following  detailed  explanation  as  to  the  water-retting  process 
of  flax  fibre,  as  now  conducted  at  Forest,  Ontario,  was  furnished  this 
consulate  September  2 through  the  kindness  of  J.  A.  McCracken, 
secretary  of  the  Canada  Flax  Growers,  of  St.  Marys,  Ontario: 

“The  flax  is  pulled  a little  greener  than  according  to  the  old 
Canadian  practice;  that  is,  when  the  leaves  a few  inches  up  from  the 
root  are  withered  away.  The  retting  tank  (of  which  more  may  be  built 
later)  is  50  feet  long,  by  1 5 feet  wide,  by  4 feet  deep.  It  is  of  concrete, 
with  10-inch  walls,  and  has  a partition  across  the  center.  Each  half 
will  hold  a small  wagonload  of  flax  sheaves. 

“The  sheaves  after  threshing  are  set  in  on  end,  heads  up,  until  the 
tank  is  filled.  Planks  are  set  on  the  tops  of  the  flax,  and  stones  on 
these,  so  as  to  keep  the  straw  immersed  when  the  water  is  turned  on. 

“Mr.  Coey,  of  the  Linen  Thread  Co.,  Newark,  N.  J.,  recently  hackled 
at  Forest  some  of  the  fibre  obtained  from  representative  samples  of 
water-retted  and  dew-retted  flax  grown  and  treated  at  Forest.  He 
declared  that  the  water-retted  fibre  was  of  excellent  quality,  even  in, 
character,  and  of  fine  spinning  texture.  He  declared  that  it  was 
worth  at  least  2 cents  a pound  more  than  the  dew-retted  fibre.  This 
is  gratifying  to  Canadians,  since  the  present  shortage  is  chiefly  of 
fine  spinning  fibres,  of  which  the  Belgian  were  the  highest  grade. 
Canadian  flax  manufacturers  are  hoping  so  to  improve  their  plants 
and  processes  as  to  enter  the  best  markets  and  thus  place  their  indus- 
try on  a permanent  and  prosperous  footing.  The  Canadian  Flax 
Growers,  recently  organized,  are  bending  their  energies  to  this  end.” 


Reducing  Cost  of  Production  of  Flax 

Some  important  statements  relating  to  the  method  and  cost  of 
production  of  flax  have  been  made  in  connection  with  the  recent  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  in  Canada.  The  Evening  Review  of  Niagara 
Falls,  Ontario,  published  an  article  February  14,  1916,  by  a manufac- 
turer whose  company  maintains  a plant  at  St.  Catherines.  The  writer 
said: 

“The  system  hitherto  employed  is  a tedious  and  expensive  one, 
necessitating  the  employment  of  a large  number  of  hands — the  pulling 
of  the  flax,  the  hauling  into  the  mill  and  threshing,  hauling  out  again 
into  the  field  and  spreading  on  the  grass,  the  turning  of  it  upside  down, 
the  binding  up  into  sheaves  and  hauling  again  to  the  mill,  the  breaking 
of  the  flax  in  fluted  rollers,  the  hand  scutching  (the  beating  of  the 
wood  off  the  fibre  by  the  scutching  blades) — the  whole  thing  being 
entirely  dependent  upon  labor  and  weather  conditions.  If  we  could  be 
assured  of  sufficient  expert  labor  at  reasonable  prices,  and  if  weather 
conditions  could  be  controlled  or  overcome;  if  we  could  compete  with 
cheap  European  labor,  and  if  we  could  devise  a process  to  overcome 
unfavorable  weather  conditions,  we  could  soon  make  Canada  the 
greatest  linen  manufacturing  country  in  the  world. 

“To  Develop  One  of  Great  Industries — To  overcome  this  difficulv, 
to  accomplish  this  purpose,  to  develop  a process  for  the  treatment  of 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


53 


the  flax  which  would  have  for  its  object  not  only  reduction  in  the  cost, 
but  a large  and,  shall  I say,  permanent  increase  in  the  quantity  of  the 
fibre  produced,  is  the  task  we  set  ourselves  years  ago;  in  other  words, 
to  bring  the  flax  industry  within  the  catagory  of  great  industries  in 
Canada  and  make  it  capable  of  profitable  expansion  and  large  develop- 
ment. And  this  is  what  we  claim  to  have  accomplished. 

“By  the  process  which  we  have  developed,  the  hand  pulling  will  be 
largely  done  away  with,  and  the  subsequent  spreading  in  the  field 
entirely  eliminated.  In  future,  the  flax  will  be  brought  direct  from  the 
field,  threshed  by  specially  designed  threshing  machines,  and  imme- 
diately baled  by  powerful  hydraulic  process  into  bales  each  containing 
about  700  pounds  of  flax  straw.  These  bales  are  then  carried  by 
electric  carriers,  or  hoists,  and  placed  in  large  concrete  tanks  of  a 
capacity  of  about  10  tons  of  flax  each.  Here  the  flax  is  treated  by 
means  of  bacteria  cultures,  in  water  held  constantly  at  the  required 
temperature,  and  it  is  thoroughly  ‘retted’  in  from  two  to  three  days. 

“Product  Made  Ready  for  Baling  and  Shipment — From  the  tank 
the  wet  flax  is  lifted  by  electric  hoists  and  passed  immediately  to  large, 
specially  constructed  dryers,  where  in  the  short  space  of  three  hours 
the  moisture  is  removed,  leaving  the  flax  thoroughly  dry  and  ready  for 
the  next  operation.  From  the  dryers  the  bales  are  carried  by  overhead 
conveyers  to  the  machinery  room,  where  they  are  mechanically  fed 
into  large  breakers  and  the  wood  broken  and  crushed  into  fine  particles, 
the  fibre  (or  tow)  being  carried  automatically  into  large  shakers  or 
beaters,  where  it  is  thoroughly  cleaned  and  the  resultant  product 
deposited  in  large  bins,  ready  for  baling  and  shipment  to  the  spinning 
mills. 

“The  process  is  short  and  inexpensive,  is  positive  in  its  results,  and 
will  produce  a uniform  grade.  It  can  be  used  with  any  quantity  desired. 
It  is  entirely  free  from  weather  conditions  and  can  be  carried  on  the 
whole  year  round,  not  being  limited  to  a few  weeks  in  autumn,  as  is 
the  present  system.  Our  mill  is  designed  to  handle  twenty  tons  of 
straw  per  day,  but  additional  mills  can  be  erected  and  machinery 
installed  capable  of  treating  all  the  flax  that  can  be  grown  in  the  entire 
country  and  as  rapidly  as  it  can  be  produced  by  the  farmers. 

“Process  One  of  Simplicity  and  Economy — -The  object  kept  in  view 
by  designing  and  installing  this  plant  for  handling  the  flax  has  been 
simplicity  and  economy.  These  two  words  are  written  large  over  the 
entire  process.  From  the  harvesting  of  the  flax  right  through  to  the 
baling  and  shipment  of  the  fibre  to  the  spinning  mill,  everything  has 
been  designed  to  handle  the  flax  by  the  most  economical  labor-saving 
methods,  so  as  to  assure  the  farmer  who  grows  the  flax  a steady  market 
for  his  product  and  at  profitable  prices,  and  also  to  insure  the  plant  a 
regular  manufacturer’s  profit  in  producing  the  fibre  for  the  trade.’’ 


According  to  a report  by  Consul  General  R.  E.  Mansfield,  at  Van- 
couver, B.  C.,  the  estimated  yield  of  flaxseed  in  Canada  for  1915  was 
12,199,600  bushels  from  1,009,600  acres,  or  12.08  bushels  to  the  acre. 


54 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


BELGIUM 

The  finest  flax  grown  in  Europe  is  unquestionably  produced  in 
western  Belgium,  and  largely  in  a region  of  country  through  which 
flows  the  river  Lys,  the  town  of  Courtrai  being  the  center  of  the 
industry.  This  is  the  creamy  Flemish  flax,  from  which  the  finest  linen 
fabrics  are  made,  and  which  owes  its  peculiar  color  to  the  waters  of 
this  famed  stream,  “the  golden  Lys”  in  which  the  Courtrai  flax  is 
always  retted.  From  some  cause  or  causes,  as  yet  not  fully  understood, 
the  water  of  the  Lys  for  a distance  of  seventeen  miles  has  the  peculiar 
effect  of  imparting  to  flax  retted  in  that  stream  softness  and  fineness 
of  texture  that  can  be  produced  nowhere  else. 

Flax  is  grown,  however,  in  other  sections  of  Belgium,  a fine  flax,  but 
darker  in  color,  coming  from  the  country  of  Waes,  and  retted  in  stag- 
nant water  in  specially  constructed  “pools.”  In  the  Brabant,  too, 
considerable  quantities  of  flax  are  grown,  both  dew  and  pool  retted, 
and  known  as  “blue  flax”  from  its  very  dark  color. 

While  the  superior  quality  of  Courtrai  flax  is  claimed  to  be  due, 
chiefly,  to  the  action  of  the  soft,  slowly  running,  almost  sluggish 
waters  of  the  river  Lys,  without  doubt  there  are  three  other  important 
factors  which  aid  in  the  result:  First,  a soil  preparation  with  sys- 
tematic rotation  of  crops  and  extent  of  fertilizing  that  few,  if  any, 
flax  farmers  in  America  have  ever  practiced;  second,  the  use  of  only 
the  best  seed  and  lastly,  most  careful  handling  and  skillful  manipula- 
tion from  the  time  the  crop  is  ready  to  pull  until  the  straw  goes  to  the 
scutch  mill.  Nor  is  the  care  and  vigilance  relaxed,  even  here. 

Exports  from  all  of  the  consular  districts  in  Belgium  for  flax  were: 


1913  . $ 792.940 

1914  291,522 


MANUFACTURES  OF  FLAX 


1913  

1914  $1,085,758 

(Detailed  accounts  from  Belgium  were  not  available 
owing  to  the  war.) 


RUSSIA 

Russia,  alone,  produces  more  flax  than  all  the  other  countries  of 
Europe  combined — about  two-thirds  of  the  total. 

There  are  27  flax  growing  provinces  in  Russia,  roughly  divided  into 
two  vast  areas,  in  which  the  culture  is  widely  different  in  character 
and  purpose.  In  the  black  soil  provinces  it  is  grown  for  seed  alone, 
while  in  the  common  soil  districts  it  is  cultivated  for  both  seed  and 
fibre. 

The  following  table  gives  an  idea  of  the  area  and  the  general  pro- 
duction of  flax  in  the  whole  empire  (both  European  and  Asiatic): 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


DO 


YIELD  OF  FLAX  IN  1912 

(According  to  the  data  of  the  Russian  Government  Central  Statistical  Bureau) 


Provinces  Producing  Principally  Fibre  Flax 


YIELD 

Area 

'i'ix 

Fibres 

Seeds 

Acres 

Total  in 
Thousands 
of  Pounds 

Per 

Acre 

Total  in  1 
Thousands  | 
of  Pounds  | 

Per 

Acre 

European  Russia  and  Caucasus 
Asiatic  Russia  without  Caucasus 

2,688,062 

128,621 

1,114,776.0 

55,980.8 

859,582.8 
; 43,952.4 

Total 

2,816,683 

1,170,756.8 

413 

903,535.2 

320 

Provinces  Producing  Principally  Linseed 


YIELD 

Area 

Fibres 

Seeds 

Acres 

Total  in 
Thousands 
of  Pounds 

Per 

Acre 

Total  in 
Thousands 
of  Pounds 

Per 

Acre 

European  Russia  and  Caucasus 
Asiatic  Russia  without  Caucasus 

815,111 

204,097 

398,952.0 

79,340.4 

389,804.4 

73,672.4 

Total 

1,019,208 

478,292.4 

466 

| 463,476.8 

460 

The  average  total  yield  of  flax  fibre  in  the  northwestern  region  is 
estimated  at  about  360,000  tons,  at  a value  of  about  $400,000.  Three-^ 
quarters  of  this  quantity  is  exported.  There  are  about  40,500,000 
acres  under  the  cultivation  of  flax  in  Russia,  giving  the  farmers  a 
larger  profit  than  the  cultivation  of  corn.  It  can  be  said  safely,  that 
the  raw  product  yields  an  annual  income  of  approximately  $103,000,000 
to  the  agricultural  classes.  It  must  also  be  considered  that  flax  culture 
is  carried  on  at  a time  when  all  other  agricultural  labor  rests. 

The  flax  industry  takes  a prominent  part  in  the  empire’s  rural 
economy.  But  the  impoverishment  of  the  soil  in  the  principal  flax 
producing  districts  has  become  a very  serious  matter.  The  average 
yield  per  dissiatine  (2.7  acres)  in  Russia  is  only  612  pounds,  while  it 
is  1,296  pounds  in  Prussia,  1,332  pounds  in  Ireland,  1,440  pounds  in 
Belgium,  and  2,088  pounds  in  France.  With  this  falling  off  in  the 
yield,  the  quality  of  the  product  deteriorates,  and  hence  the  Russian 
spinning  mills  are  obliged  to  import  flax  for  the  finest  counts. 

Those  who  claim  that  good  flax  fibre  and  salable  seed  cannot  be 
grown  in  the  same  crop  should  study  the  figures  of  seed  production. 
In  the  black-soil  provinces,  where  there  is  a small  fibre  product, 
15,500,000  acres  produce  about  8,500,000  bushels  of  seed  worth 
$7,700,000,  in  round  numbers,  while  in  the  common-soil  provinces,  in 
addition  to  the  260,000  tons  of  fibre  produced,  a litttle  over  2,000,000 
acres  yield  almost  9,500,000  bushels  of  seed,  worth  $9,400,000  in 
round  numbers. 

In  general,  the  manipulation  of  the  flax  in  Russia  is  so  primitive 
and  poor  that,  as  a result,  the  price  offered  for  it  abroad  is  much  lower 


56 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


than  that  paid  for  German,  Austrian,  Irish,  and  especially  French  and 
Belgian  flax.  When  flax  is  purchased  in  the  condition  in  which  it 
enters  the  market,  the  manufacturer  can  not  know  what  he  is  pur- 
chasing; that  is  to  say,  he  does  not  know  how  much  clean  flax  he  will 
have,  nor  the  quality.  It  is,  therefore,  easy  to  understand  that  the 
purchaser  wishes  to  guarantee  himself  against  such  loss  and,  therefore, 
purchases  at  very  low  prices,  a fact  that  causes  the  Russian  farmers  to 
lose  needlessly  about  $15,000,000  a year. 

The  Russian  flax  farmers  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  sorting, 
mixing  all  grades  together  indiscriminately,  when  it  is  sold  to  the 
small  buyers  who  purchase  the  product.  The  large  merchants  do  the 
assorting,  according  to  quality,  though  it  is  stated  that  this  work  is 
the  most  thoroughly  done  at  the  ports  whence  it  is  exported  to  reach 
foreign  markets. 

An  important  item  of  Russia’s  exports  is  linseed,  and  though  it  has 
to  compete  with  the  Argentine  and  East  Indian,  still  reaches  114,692 
metric  tons,  valued  at  about  $5,400,000.  The  shipments  of  linseed 
cake  aggregate  about  163,800  tons,  valued  at  about  $4,890,000.  Thus 
the  exports  of  flax,  linseed,  and  linseed  cake  reach  a total  of  about 
$43,510,000. 

Flaxseed,  as  understood  in  Russia,  comprises  sowing  seed  and 
crushing  seed.  The  first  is  a more  carefully  sorted  quality,  exported 
exclusively  for  sowing  purposes.  Crushing  seed  is  the  surplus.  Of  the 
total  quantity  exported  about  two-thirds  is  described  as  sowing  seed. 
Good  flaxseed  for  sowing  purposes  is  highly  esteemed  and  brings  from 
$3.10  to  $3.90  per  bushel.  Flax  and  its  products  amount  to  about 
one-sixth  of  all  the  goods  exported  from  Russia. 

An  acre  of  good  land  gives  400  pounds,  or  more,  of  fibre,  and  from 
400  to  535  pounds  of  seed,  but  an  acre  of  poor  soil  will  not  yield  more 
than  160  to  200  pounds  of  fibre  and  about  265  pounds  of  seed.  The 
average  yield  may  be  considered  to  be  from  265  to  330  pounds  of  flax 
fibre  and  400  to  670  pounds  of  flaxseed  per  acre.  The  low  qualities  of 
the  Russian  flax  are  not  the  result  of  natural  causes  but  of  the  igno- 
rance as  to  the  proper  method  of  treating  the  flax.  Another  cause  is  to 
be  found  in  the  absence  of  a home  demand  for  a high  quality  of  fibre. 
Russian  factories  do  not  produce  linen  from  the  finest  numbers  of 
spun  threads,  and,  therefore,  do  not  require  the  highest  class  of  flax. 
The  aim  of  the  producer  is  quantity  rather  than  quality,  and  the  result 
is  a progressive  reduction  in  the  qualities  of  the  fibre. 

The  most  important  markets  for  the  sale  of  Russian  flax  fibre  are 
Dundee,  Scotland;  Lille,  France,  Ghent  and  Antwerp,  in  Belgium. 


IRELAND 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction  for  Ire- 
land gives  the  following  figures  relative  to  cost  and  profit  per  statute 
acre  of  cultivating  and  handling  flax:  (In  translating  these  values 
into  United  States  money  the  English  pound  sterling  has  been  figured 
at  $4.80  and  the  shilling  at  24  cents.  The  Irish  statute  acre  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  United  States,  43,560  square  feet.) 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


57 


Rent  of  land,  allowing-  for  exhaustion  of  soil  and  fouling  of  land  with  weeds  .$19.20 

Plowing  2.88 

Cultivating  - 

Harrowing,  Rolling  and  sowing  seed  I 

Seed  4.20 

Manures  2.88 

Weeding  1.20 

Pulling  9.60 

Retting,  drying,  stacking,  delivery  at  scutch  mill,  and  marketing  of  scutch 

flax  10.80 

Cost  of  scutching — 4 cwts.  scutched  flax  at  $2.40  per  cwt 9.60 

Total  $62.88 


Net  profit  per  statute  acre,  4 cwts,  scutched  flax  at  $19.20  per  cwt $76.80 

Less  cost  of  production  62.88 

‘Total  net  profit $13.92 


Cost  of  Producing  Flax 

Flax  from  different  sections  of  Ireland  has  different  values,  varying 
according  to  the  quality  of  the  seed  sown,  the  kind  of  land  and  the 
care  with  which  the  various  processes  are  carried  out. 

The  cost  of  raising  also  varies  at  different  times  and  places.  The 
average  cost  of  production  per  acre  in  Ireland  is  estimated  as  folows: 


Rent  and  taxes $ 8.41 

Seed  6.08 

Preparing  the  land 5.60 

Sowing  1.82 

Weeding  1.21 

Pulling  2.55 

Retting  1.34 

Grassing  2.92 

Scutching  8.02 


Total $37.95 


Taking  the  above  average  cost  of  production,  and  the  average  yield 
of  fibre  as  525  pounds  per  acre,  and  figuring  the  average  value  of  the 
flax  as  about  10.42  cents  per  pound,  the  average  profits  per  acre  are 
estimated  as  $54.75  gross — minus  the  above  cost — which  yields  $16.80 
net  per  acre. 


The  Irish  Flax  Crop 

“With  reference  to  the  official  report  on  last  season’s  flax  crop  in 
Ireland  it  is  worth  noting,”  stated  the  Textile  Mercury  (Manchester, 
England,  February  16,  1916),  “that  the  average  production  of  fibre, 
working  out  at  407.4  pounds  per  statute  acre,  as  compared  with  369.6 
pounds  in  1914,  was  36.4  pounds  below  the  average  for  the  ten  years, 
1905-1914. 

“The  total  flax  crop  of  Ireland  in  1915  is  estimated  at  2,164,774 
pounds,  as  against  1,820,179  pounds  in  1914,  an  increase  of  344,594 
pounds,  while  the  area  showed  an  increase  of  4,890  acres,  from  49^25  3 
to  54,143  acres. 

The  American  Consul  at  Belfast,  Ireland,  reported  April  19,  1915: 
“The  Russian  flax  crop  is  reported  as  a failure.  Prices  are  greatly 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


58 


advanced.  Medium  quality  flax  sold  July  1 at  $181.28,  and  on  Decem- 
ber 31  at  $364.99  per  ton,  while  tow,  which  brought  $137.70  on  July  1, 
sold  for  $330.92  per  ton  on  December  31. 

“It  was  thought  that  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  that  consumers 
would  be  able  to  get  their  flax  supplies  from  Belgium  as  usual,  but  this 
did  not  prove  to  be  the  case  and  toward  the  end  of  November  shipments 
from  that  market  practically  ceased.  Courtrai  flax,  which  was  selling 
July  1 at  $340.6  6 brought,  on  December  31,  $729.98  per  ton. 

“Ireland’s  flax  acreage  fell  off  from  59,305  to  49,253  acres.  The 
yields  of  fibre  were  smaller  than  usual  and  the  quality  not  up  to  the 
average.  Prices  for  Irish  flax  advanced  from  $243.33  on  July  1 to 
$583.98  per  ton  December  31;  Irish  tow,  for  the  same  period,  from 
$187.36  to  $350.39  per  ton. 

“The  United  States  is,  as  always,  an  easy  first  in  the  foreign  mar- 
kets, taking  more  than  half  of  the  total  exports  of  linen  goods  from  this 
district. 

“Australia  has  maintained  its  trade  better  than  any  other  market 
except  the  United  States.  British  South  Africa  marks  a considerable 
decline.  The  British  East  Indies,  after  steadily  expanding  its  trade  for 
the  past  five  years,  shows  a decrease.  There  is  also  a falling  off  in 
shipments  to  Japan. 

“Exports  of  Linen  Piece  Goods  from  United  Kingdom — The  board 
of  trade  returns  supply  the  following  particulars  with  regard  to  the 
value  of  exports  of  linen  piece  goods  from  the  United  Kingdom  during 
the  past  two  years: 


COUNTRIES 


Argentina  

Australia  I 

Belgium  : 

Brazil  - 

British  Bast  Indies  

British  South  Africa  

British  West  Indies  (including  Bahamas  and  British 

Guiana)  

Canada  

Colombia  and  Panama  

Cuba  , 

Denmark  

Dutch  East  Indies  

E-'gypt  

France  - I 

Germany  I 

Italy  

Japan  

Mexico  

Spain  and  Canaries  

Switzerland  

United  States  

Other  countries  

Total ! 


1913  191J, 


$ 1,035,995  ! 

$ 579,016 

2,473,102 

2,323,875 

182,781 

118,319 

853,526 

412,660 

1,310.582 

1,129,826 

457,091 

306,911 

112,105 

93,938 

1,438,615 

1,067,861 

280,174 

185,526 

1,051,329 

870.451 

192,260 

170,152 

307,602 

271,410 

151,660 

152,837 

274,110 

176,046 

831,802 

510,710 

231,154 

192,796 

280,598 

174,347 

128,738 

33,769 

102,036 

74,569 

139,664 

104,761 

14,841,696 

15,991,480 

2,365,513 

1,733,841 

$29,042,133 

$26,675,101 

“The  following  is  a summary  of  the  value  of  the  exports  of  linen 
piece  goods  from  the  United  Kingdom: 

“Total,  plain,  unbleached  or  bleached,  1913,  $25,138,358;  1914, 
$23,243,012;  total,  checked,  printed,  or  dyed,  and  damasks  or  diapers, 
1913,  $2,690,625;  1914,  $2,496,096;  sailcloth,  1913,  $1,213,150;  1914, 
$935,993.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


59 


Belfast  Linen  Trade  Circular,  July  31,  1915:  “Latest  advices  from 
Russia  point  to  the  exhaustion  of  last  year’s  crop,  which  was  far  from 
being  a big  one,  while  prospects  in  the  flax  growing  districts  this  year 
are  by  no  means  good.  What  the  actual  position  is  in  the  Riga 
provinces  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain.  Flax  is  available  in  Brittany,  but 
we  understand  the  export  is  prohibited.  Some  parcels  of  Flemish  flax 
have  been  sold  as  high  as  £120  ($57  6.00)  f.  o.  b.  Dieppe.  Rotterdam 
correspondents,  writing  under  date  twenty-sixth  instant,  state  that  there 
is  a very  strong  demand  for  half-scutched  flax  at  £80  to  £90  ($384.00 
to  $432.00).  They  also  say  that  more  than  half  the  crop  is  likely  to 
go  into  half-scutched  flax  this  season,  and  some  farmers  are  already 
making  contracts  for  the  supply  of  from  100  to  300  bales  monthly.” 


Flax  Growing  in  the  South  of  Ireland 

(Consul  Wesley  Frost,  Cork,  Queenstown,  January  28) 

“The  prospective  dearth  of  flax  for  the  linen  trade  of  the  North  of 
Ireland  has  directed  attention  to  the  flax-growing  possibilities  of 
Munster  and  Leinster.  The  Belfast  Linen  Trade  Circular,  in  a current 
issue,  points  out  the  success  that  would  attend  an  expansion  of  the 
flax  acreage  in  the  South  of  Ireland,  and  the  president  of  the  Cork 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Shipping  has  reiterated  and  emphasized  the 
suggestion. 

“Flax  ranks  second  in  value  among  Ireland’s  imports  of  raw  mate- 
rials. Most  of  these  shipments  have  in  the  past  come  from  Belgium 
and  Russia.  The  island’s  purchases  of  flax  for  the  last  five  years  have 
averaged  38,000  long  tons;  in  1912  they  reached  42,144  tons,  which 
was  the  record  for  the  half  decade.  In  1913  Ireland’s  imports  of 
foreign  flax  totaled  40,982  tons,  whereas  the  Irish  crop  of  flax  was 
but  12,652  tons,  or  about  one-fifth  of  the  amount  required  to  keep 
the  linen  mills  of  Ulster  in  operation.  Any  increase  that  can  be 
brought  about  in  the  home  supply  will  evidently  be  of  great  value  for 
the  coming  year. 

“As  a matter  of  fact,  the  average  yield  of  flax  per  acre  has  been 
decidedly  greater  in  the  South  of  Ireland  than  in  the  North.  The 
Provinces  rank  in  order  as  follows  (1913):  Average  yield  per  acre 
in  Munster,  54  6 pounds;  in  Conaught,  524  pounds;  in  Leinster,  505 
pounds;  and  in  Ulster,  477  pounds.  The  average  for  Ireland  is  4 77 
pounds,  and  the  figures  given  are  typical  of  normal  conditions. 
County  Cork  has  consistenly  given  the  highest  yields  per  acre  of  any 
region  in  Ireland. 

“The  actual  acreage  and  yield  in  Ulster,  however,  are  far  above 
those  of  all  the  rest  of  Ireland  combined.  The  Province  of  Ulster  in 
1913  returned  58,577  acres  as  cultivated  to  flax,  while  Munster  gave 
400  acres,  Connaught  283,  and  Leinster  4 8.  County  Antrim,  in  Ulster, 
produced  302,915  stones  of  flax,  while  County  Cork,  in  Munster, 
produced  6,07  8 stones.  The  value  of  the  total  flax  crop  of  Ireland  in 
1913  was  $3,542,581,  the  average  price  being  $1.75  per  stone  of  14 
pounds,  or  12  y2  cents  per  pound.” 


60 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Prices  at  Belfast 

The  York  Street  Flax  Spinning  Company,  of  Belfast,  states  that  for 
flax  of  the  same  grade,  as  to  length,  strength,  quality  and  cleanness, 
approximately  equal  prices  are  paid  whether  the  flax  is  water  or  dew 
retted.  However,  dew  retting  is  practiced  only  in  the  central  part  of 
Russia,  and  to  a very  small  extent,  in  normal  times,  in  Belgium, 
Brittany,  and  Ontario.  Nine-tenths  of  the  Belgian,  Holland,  and  Ireland 
crops  are  water  retted  and  fetch  considerably  higher  prices  than  the 
average  of  dew  retted  flaxes.  Ther  are  no  recognized  grades  in  most 
flax  growing  countries,  each  lot,  as  a rule,  being  sold  on  its  individual 
merits.  The  folowing  is  given,  however,  as  a rough  average  of  the 
value  of  the  crops  as  a whole: 


Courtrai,  formerly  24c  per  pound now  unprocurable 

Flemish,  formerly  13c  per  pound now  unprocurable 

Dutch,  formerly  14c  per  pound now  26c  per  pound 

Irish,  formerly  12c  per  pound now  24c  per  pound 

Brittany,  formerly  10c  per  pound now  17c  per  pound 

Russian,  formerly  9c  per  pound now  15c  per  pound 


The  vast  bulk  of  the  Irish  flax  crop  is  grown  in  Ulster,  which  in 

1913  produced  1,996,543  stone  (27,951,602  pounds).  In  1914  the 
yield  was  only  1,2  85,382  stone  (17,995,348  pounds).  This  was  due  to 
both  decreased  acreage  and  decreased  yield  per  acre.  The  acreage  in 

1914  was  49,250  against  59,305  in  1913,  and  the  average  production 
per  acre  was  28  stone  (392  pounds)  in  1914  against  36  stone  (504 
pounds)  in  1913.  At  the  close  of  the  year  the  prospective  shortage  of 
flax  in  Ireland,  due  both  to  the  short  crop  and  to  the  difficulties  of 
importing  supplies  from  Russia,  had  doubled  the  price. 

While  Irish  flax  has  the  reputation  of  being  a superb  flax,  the  Irish 
flax  culture,  as  practiced  by  the  small  peasant  farmers,  is  slovenly  and 
wasteful  to  the  last  degree.  The  term  “Irish  flax”  is  frequently  only  a 
trade-mark,  for  a large  portion  of  the  flax  of  France  and  Belgium  is 
exported  to  Great  Britain,  where  it  goes  into  manufactures  that  are 
regarded  as  derived  from  Irish  flax. 

Mr.  Henry  Wallace,  who  visited  Ireland  in  1891,  and  made  a report 
the  following  year,  states  that  the  great  bulk  of  Irish  flax  is  grown  in 
the  province  of  Ulster,  embracing  the  seven  northern  counties.  The 
acreage  has  been  gradually  decreasing  for  the  past  30  years,  varying 
considerably  from  year  to  year,  but  declining  from  229,17  8 acres  in 
1869,  to  113,538  in  1888,  with  an  estimated  acreage  in  1891  of  75,000 
acres.  The  causes  of  this  decrease  have  been  various,  but  the  principal 
one  is  the  failure  of  the  soil  to  grow  profitable  crops,  except  at  long 
intervals. 

The  soil  is  said  to  be  less  fertile  than  in  many  portions  of  the 
Northern  and  Western  states  in  our  own  country,  and  is  polluted  with 
weeds — deep  rooted  and  growing  in  detached  pieces — to  be  eradicated 
only  by  hand  pulling. 

The  best  seed  that  can  be  obtained  is  sown  at  the  rate  of  two 
bushels  to  the  acre.  On  heavy  soil  the  Dutch  seed  is  considered  the 
most  suitable,  while  the  Riga  seed  is  thought  to  answer  better  for  the 
light  or  medium  soils.  The  Dutch  seed  is  Riga  seed  sown  in  Holland, 
just  as  “Belgian”  is  Riga  seed  sown  one  year  in  Belgium. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


61 


(From  Pamphlet  No.  6-2,  I.  A.  O.  S.  Publications) 

“There  are  few  industries  in  Ireland,  and,  so  far  as  Ulster  is  con- 
cerned, few  of  more  importance  than  the  flax  growing.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  manufacturers  have  invested  no  less  a sum  than  13,000,000 
pounds  sterling  ($52,400,000)  in  the  linen  business.  For  several 
generations  Belfast  has  been  the  center  of  the  linen  industry  where 
the  product  of  thousands  of  the  agricultural  community  found  a 
profitable  sale  and  provided  a regular  and  profitable  employment  for 
upward  of  65,000  skilled  hands. 

“The  importance  of  the  flax  industry  and  some  idea  of  its  decline 


may  be  gathered  from  the  following  figures: 

YEAR 

Acres  Under  Crop 

Values  of  Crop 

1869-86  (Av.)*  

120  245 
34,989 

£972,782 

298,000 

1899  

Decrease  

85,256 

£674,782 

“In  1898  the  amount  paid  by  spinners  annually  for  foreign  flax 
reached  the  enormous  sum  of  £2,932,621  ($14,271,600),  repre- 

senting no  less  than  97,252  tons  of  flax. 

“It  is  estimated  that  in  the  hey-day  of  the  industry  120,000  people 
found  employment  for  four  weeks  in  the  year  in  growing,  steeping, 
drying,  etc.,  while  18,000  hands  were  employed  for  twenty  weeks  in 
each  year  in  the  process  of  scutching.  The  estimated  number  of  persons 
now  thus  employed  is  reduced,  respectively,  to  35,000  and  5,250. 

“While  the  number  of  spindles  in  Ireland  has  increased  from 
250,000  in  1841  to  855,650  in  1898,  many  mills  have  ceased  altogether 
to  buy  Irish  flax,  solely  because  they  cannot  procure  the  quality  they 
require,  except  from  abroad. 

“The  decadence  of  the  industry  may  briefly  be  assigned  to  the 

following  causes:  (1)  The  use  of  inferior  seed;  (2)  the  absence  of 

proper  methods  of  tilling,  steeping,  and  scutching;  (3)  the  want  of 
cooperation  between  the  grower,  the  scutcher  and  the  manufacturer. 

“It  is  not  usually  contended  that  Irish  flax  has  materially  dete- 
riorated, but  it  is  maintained  that  in  Belgium  and  elsewhere  the 

growers  produce  an  article  of  a quality  superior  to  that  of  Ireland,  and 

that  they  moreover,  have  taken  steps  to  secure  a product  that  shall  be, 
as  far  as  possible,  of  uniform  quality. 

“There  appears  to  be  no  evidence  to  show  that  the  falling  off  in  the 
growing  of  flax  in  Ireland  is  due  to  any  climatic  conditions.  These 
appear  to  be  as  favorable  as  ever. 

“It  will  be  found  that  in  cooperation,  in  which  growers,  scutchers, 
and  mill  owners  are  associated,  lies  the  only  hope  of  saving  the  industry. 

“Statements  of  Yield — The  usual  yield  per  acre  of  flax  in  Ireland 
ranges  from  450  to  600  pounds,  the  average  for  four  principal  counties 
in  1890,  by  calculation,  being  475  pounds. 

“Mr.  Wallace  gives  some  interesting  figures  regarding  the  cost  of 
production,  which  also  afford  a hint  in  relation  to  yield.  The  first 
statement  refers  to  a farm  in  Kilrea,  County  Londonderry: 


62 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


Per  Acre 


Plowing  $ 2.00 

Seed  (eight  pecks)  6.00 

Sowing,  harrowing,  etc 2.00 

Weeding  62  % 

Pulling  3.00 

Steeping,  watering,  lifting 2.25 

Mill-dressing  12.00 

Rent  of  land . 12.00 


Total $39.87% 

Yield  per  acre,  pounds 600 

Cost  per  pound $ .06% 


“The  second  refers  to  a farm  of  150  acres  in  Movenis,  Garvagh, 
County  Derry: 

Per  Acre 


Plowing  $ 2.50 

Sowing,  harrowing,  cultivating 5.00 

Seed  5.50 

Pulling  2.00 

Steeping,  watering,  and  lifting 4.00 

Mill-dressing  , 11.25 

Rent  7.50 


Total $37.75 


Yield  per  acre,  pounds 630 

Cost  per  pound  nearly $ .06 


“Three-fourths  of  the  farms  in  Ireland  are  small — under  40  acres — 
and  a long  rotation,  which  is  essential,  necessitates  small  fields;  as  a 
result,  75  per  cent  of  the  flax  crop  is  grown  in  fields  of  two  acres  or 
under.  Mr.  Wallace  says:  ‘When  the  straw  begins  to  turn  yellow  and 
the  foliage  within  six  inches  of  the  ground  is  drooping,  pull  at  once.’ 

“In  Ireland  the  seed  of  flax  is  rarely  or  never  saved,  and  hence  all 
the  seed  sown  is  imported  from  Riga,  Russia,  or  from  Holland,  generally 
from  Rotterdam.  Many  farmers  sow  Riga  seed,  while  preference  is 
generally  given  to  the  product  of  Riga  seed  sown  one  or  two  years  in 
Holland.  This  is  called  Dutch  seed.  But  the  seed  sown  in  Holland  is 
constantly  renewed  from  Riga,  few  farmers  venturing  to  sow  their  own 
seed  longer  than  one  year,  so  that  Riga  may  be  regarded  as  the  source  of 
all  the  seed  sown  in  the  linen-producing  countries. 

“As  the  object  in  Ireland  is  to  produce  fibre  and  not  seed,  flax  is 
sown  very  thickly,  averaging  about  two  bushels  per  statute  acre.  Obser- 
vation among  the  flax  growers  of  Belgium  and  Holland  shows  that, 
when  the  climate  and  conditions  are  favorable,  it  is  possible  to  secure 
a moderate  crop  of  fairly  good  seed,  and  at  the  same  time  a crop  of 
good  fibre.  The  finest  fibre  in  the  world  is  grown  in  Belgium,  where 
the  seed  is  also  saved,  although  it  must  be  stated  that  the  seed  grown 
in  Belgium  is  quite  inferior  in  quality,  everything  being  sacrificed  to 
the  production  of  the  choicest  fibre.” 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


63 


ENGLAND 

British  Flax  Decree  and  the  Linen  Trade 

(Consul  H.  D.  Van  Sant,  Dunfermline,  Scotland,  February  14) 

“In  order  to  conserve  the  present  and  future  supply  of  flax  in  the 
United  Kingdom  the  following  decree  has  been  issued: 

“ ‘No  person  shall  from  the  date  of  this  order,  until  further  notice, 
buy,  sell,  or  deal  in  dressed  or  undressed  Russian  flax  or  tow  at  present 
in  stock  in  the  United  Kingdom,  or  hereafter  buy,  sell,  or  deal  in  stocks 
of  dressed  or  undressed  Russian  flax  or  tow  after  they  have  been 
imported  into  this  country,  except  under  license  from  the  war 
department.’ 

“This  government  decree  prohibiting  the  purchase  and  sale  of  flax 
except  under  license  may  seriously  affect  the  linen  trade  of  Dunferm- 
line in  the  near  future,  especially  as  tending  toward  the  increased 
restriction  of  the  already  decreasing  linen  exports  to  the  United  States 
from  the  Dunfermline  consular  district.  It  appears  that  a small  por- 
tion of  a cargo  of  3,000  tons  of  flax  recently  arriving  at  Dundee  from 
Archangel  in  Russia  was  secured  by  several  of  the  Dunfermline  manu- 
facturers and  that  further  supplies  have  been  secured  from  time  to 
time  through  Belfast  and  other  sources,  enough  to  carry  on  the 
American  trade  for  a time  at  least  until  new  Russian  supplies  might 
arrive.  But  this  new  prohibition  of  the  use  of  the  Russian  supply, 
except  under  license,  adds  uncertainty  to  the  future  as  regards  Amer- 
ican trade,  with  the  probability  of  a further  decrease  in  the  total 
volume  of  exports  at  the  end  of  the  year  unless  new  supplies  of  flax 
are  allowed  before  the  year  is  out.” 


(By  Chas.  A.  Holder,  American  Consul,  London,  September  29,  1915) 

“The  present  market  value  of  flax  fibre  is  from  $486.65  to  $729.98 
per  ton  for  the  scutched  flax.  Before  the  war,  $14.60  to  $19.47  per 
ton  was  obtained  for  the  threshed  straw.  Present  prices  are:  Seed, 
from  $12.16  to  $14.60  per  410  pounds;  fibre,  as  quoted  above;  linseed 
chaff  brings  about  73  cents  per  cwt.  for  feeding  cattle;  tow  is  worth 
from  $194.66  to  $243.33  per  ton  straw,  after  the  fibre  has  been 
removed,  usually  is  burned,  although  it  sometimes  is  used  for  thatching 
roofs,  being  tough  and  lasting.  It  also  makes  excellent  packing 
material  for  crockery,  but  it  is  essential  that  it  should  be  properly 
dried  and  kept  straight  and  even  in  the  sheaves  if  it  is  to  be  used  for 
any  of  these  purposes. 

“The  total  cost  of  production  per  acre,  including  rent  at  $7.30  per 
acre,  can  be  given  for -Great  Britain  as  between  $26.76  and  $31.63,  but 
these  figures  are  only  approximate  and  do  not  include  scutching.  If 
scutching  is  included  the  additional  cost  is  about  $12.16.  The  net 
profit  per  acre  will  depend,  naturally,  upon  the  value  of  the  land  or  its 
rental,  the  cost  of  labor,  the  market  for  the  crop  and  many  other 
factors  which  will  differ  in  various  parts  of  the  country.” 


64 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


SCOTLAND 

(Dundee,  Scotland,  Report  dated  April  21,  1915) 

“The  Linen  Trade — Flax  Famine — The  linen  trade  in  the  early 
months  of  last  year  showed  unsatisfactory  signs,  and  there  was  a 
steady  depreciation  in  raw  material  values.  Prices  for  the  fibre  con- 
tinued to  rise  until  they  were  practically  anything  that  sellers  cared  to 
ask.  The  new  Russian  flax  crop,  believed  to  be  both  inferior  in  quality 
and  quantity,  could  not  be  shipped,  and  spinners  were  unable  to 
replenish  their  new  season’s  supplies. 

“The  war  led  to  the  appreciation  of  all  linen-trade  values  by  100 
per  cent  and  more.  A heavy  strain  was  put  on  the  manufacturers  of 
the  coarser  fabrics  for  urgent  government  requirements.  While  the 
manufacturers  of  the  heavier  linens  had  more  orders  than  they  could 
possibly  take  care  of,  those  manufacturing  household  linens  and  other 
finer  textures  did  not  fare  so  well  and  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities 
had  great  difficulty  in  securing  supplies  of  yarn. 

“The  following  table  shows  the  highest  and  lowest  prices  of  flax 
yarns  for  the  past  two  years,  and  the  large  increase  in  prices  that 
took  place  as  a result  of  the  war: 


YARNS 

Highest 

Lowest 

3- pound  flax  warp  yarn  

4- pound  tow  warp  yarn  

3 -pound  tow  weft  yarn  

40-lea  line  weft  yarn  

1913 

$0,597 

.638 

.527 

1.46 

191Jt 

$1.34 

.97 

.77 

2.13 

1 

1913 

$0,567 

.608 

.496 

1.36 

191J, 

$0,567 

.59 

.476 

1.28 

(American  Consul,  Dunfermline,  Scotland,  January  8,  1916) 

“Large  Exports  of  Linens  to  the  United  States — High  Prices — 
Linen,  or  woven  flax  fabric,  has  been  the  principal  item  of  export  from 
Fifeshire  to  the  United  States  for  more  than  a half  century.  During  the 
last  year,  owing  to  the  war,  the  conditions  of  this  trade  have  been  with- 
out parallel  in  the  history  of  the  consulate,  and  the  exports  from  this 
district  show  a loss  of  $745,976  as  compared  with  1914.  The  quarter 
ended  December  31  shows  a decrease  of  $238,838,  while  the  September 
quarter  shows  a still  heavier  loss  in  volume  of  exports,  one  of  $389,677. 
The  falling  off  in  this  trade  has  been  still  greater  than  the  figures 
indicate,  as  prices  are  much  higher  than  they  were  a year  ago. 

“Prices  of  yarns  have  advanced  about  150  per  cent  since  last  July, 
and  compared  with  prices  of  a few  years  ago,  or  of  normal  times,  the 
advance  is  about  300  per  cent,  as  stated  recently  by  a leading  linen 
expert.  It  is  even  claimed  that  the  top  price  has  not  yet  been  reached. 
It  has  only  been  possible  to  produce  linen  damask  at  a big  advance  in 
price,  the  result  being  a large  decrease  in  business.  Manufacturers 
generally  find  themselves  unable  to  give  quotations  because  of  the 
uncertainty  of  the  yarn  market.  Yet  in  the  last  year  when  it  was 
reported  at  different  times  that  flax  would  soon  be  unobtainable  new 
supplies  arrived  from  unexpected  quarters,  so  that  looms  have 
been  kept  going  on  part  time. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


65 


“It  is  likely  that  sales  to  the  United  States  will  continue  to  be  on  a 
restricted  basis  until  new  supplies  of  flax  and  yarns  arrive  and  the 
demand  and  lower  prices  restore  the  old  volume  of  trade.  During  the 
greater  part  of  1915  nearly  one-half  of  the  looms  were  idle  or  turned 
to  other  account  than  the  manufacture  of  woven  flax  fabrics  for  the 
export  trade. 

“The  linoleum  exports  of  1915  to  the  United  States  show  a decrease 
of  $40,908,  as  compared  with  the  previous  year.  Considering  the 
scarcity  of  hands,  the  increase  in  wages,  and  the  strikes  and  fires 
in  the  Kirkcaldy  factories  that  occurred  during  the  year,  the  decrease 
is  not  more  notable  than  the  decrease  of  the  previous  year.  It  is 
said  that  the  competition  of  American  linoleum  factories  is  becom- 
ing increasingly  keen  from  year  to  year,  and  the  high  quality  of 
the  American  product  is  becoming  more  generally  recognized  than 
it  was  a few  years  ago.  An  increase  of  linoleum  exports  to  any 
marked  degree  is  not  likely  during  the  continuance  of  the  war, 
although  afterwards,  when  the  usual  supply  of  labor  is  restored,  the 
indications  are  that  there  will  be  a steady  increase  in  this  line  of 
exports.” 


EGYPT 

G.  C.  Dudgeon,  consulting  agriculturist  of  the  Ministry  of  Agricul- 
ture, at  Cairo,  Egypt,  contributes  the  following  information  regarding 
the  cultivation  in  that  country: 

“Flax  is  grown  on  a small  scale  only  in  Egypt,  and  its  manufacture 
is  only  conducted  as  a peasant  industry  by  crude  methods,  which  have 
probably  been  in  employment  since  the  earliest  recorded  times. 

“The  crop,  as  at  present  cultivated  in  Egypt,  is  chiefly  grown  for 
seed  and  fibre  at  the  same  time,  for  which  reason  the  quality  of  the 
fibre  produced  is  usually  inferior. 

“There  are  no  factories  for  flax  treatment  or  spinning  in  the 
country.” 


AUSTRALIA 

Consul  John  F.  Jewell,  of  Melbourne,  reports  that  the  flax  yield  of 
the  State  of  Victoria,  Australia,  for  the  past  season  is  estimated  at 
1,800  tons,  or  double  the  quantity  produced  for  the  previous  season. 

The  renewed  attention  being  given  by  farmers  to  this  industry 
is  largely  due  to  the  bonus  offered  by  the  commonwealth  government, 
amounting  to  10  per  cent  on  the  value  of  the  fibre  and  the  linseed. 

There  are  three  delinting  plants  in  operation,  one  of  which  is  at 
the  state  penitentiary,  and  most  of  the  output  goes  to  rope  factories 
for  conversion  into  twine,  window  sash  cord,  and  fishing  lines.  The 
plant  grown  in  Victoria  is  the  linen  flax.  Buyers  of  the  past  season’s 
crops  are  highly  pleased  with  its  quality  and  it  is  probable  an  attempt 
will  shortly  be  made  to  manufacture  linen  locally.  The  fibre  realizes 
from  $20  to  $25  per  ton,  and  the  yield  is  about  one  and  one-half  tons 
per  acre.  The  linseed  amounts  to  about  eighteen  bushels  per  acre,  and 


66 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


sells  at  7s.  6d.  ($1.82)  to  8s.  ($1.94)  per  bushel  wholesale  for  cattle 
feed.  The  returns  for  the  new  season’s  crop  planted  in  June  will 
probably  show  a large  increase  in  acreage. 


American  Consular  Service,  New  South  Wales:  “The  common- 
wealth of  Australia  has  offered  bounties  on  flax  and  hemp  linseed,  but 
so  far  no  great  advantage  has  been  taken  of  these  gratuities. 

“During  the  fiscal  year  1913-1914,  137  tons  of  flax  and  hemp  were 
raised,  yielding  a bounty  of  $574.  There  was  no  linseed  produced 
during  the  same  period,  but  in  the  year  1912-1913,  100  cwt.  of  linseed 
was  made,  which  yielded  a bounty  of  $43.  The  State  of  Victoria 
claimed  the  total  amounts  paid  for  these  products.” 


Sidney,  Australia,  Department  of  Agriculture  reports:  “Cultivation 
of  flax  in  this  state  has  been  on  a very  limited  scale,  confined  mostly 
to  experimental  work.  The  result  in  most  districts  has  not  been 
promising.” 


FRANCE 

The  flax  culture  of  France  is  confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  the 
departments  of  Nord,  Pas-de-Calais,  and  others  contiguous  in  the 
north,  Lille  being  the  center  of  the  industry.  It  has  suffered  a con- 
siderable decline  within  two  or  three  decades,  having  ceased  entirely 
in  some  departments,  while  the  quantity  has  diminished  in  nearly  all, 
save  perhaps  in  Nord,  in  which  the  city  of  Lille  is  located. 

While  a little  of  the  fibre  is  used  in  France  for  sewing  thread,  the 
main  product  goes  to  Great  Britain. 

Prices  of  the  different  forms  of  flax  fibre  produced  in  France  are 
quoted  by  M.  Renouard  as  follows: 

“Dew-retted,  7 5 to  100  francs  per  100  kilograms  (about  7 V2  to  10 
cents  per  pound);  tank-retted,  100  to  150  francs  per  100  kilograms 
(about  10 to  15  cents  per  pound) ; river-retted,  150  to  300  francs  per  100 
kilograms  (about  15  to  30  cents  per  pound)” 

“The  cultivator  receives  from  300  to  1,000  francs  per  hectare  for 
the  raw  product;  that  is  to  say,  approximately  $24  to  $80  per  acre; 
but,  in  American  money,  about  $48  per  acre,  rental  included;  so  that 
the  farmer  grows  flax  at  a loss,  if  his  sales  fall  below  this  figure,  and  at 
a profit,  if  the  price  realized  gives  him  more  than  this  sum  per  acre. 
Unfortunately,  there  has  been  loss  in  many  districts  in  late  years,  which 
accounts  for  the  decline  of  the  industry  in  France.” 


THE  NETHERLANDS 

(Consul  General  S.  Listoe,  Rotterdam,  January  25,  1916) 

“One  of  the  leading  Rotterdam  dealers  in  flax  has  estimated  the 
production  of  flax  in  the  Netherlands  for  the  season  of  1914-15  at 
1,500  tons  of  blue  Dutch  fibre,  800  tons  of  white  Dutch  fibre  (imita- 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


67 


tion  Courtrai  retting),  and  800  tons  of  Friesland  fibre,  a total  of 
3,100  tons,  against  approximately  1,600  tons  blue  and  white  Dutch 
and  1,200  tons  Friesland  for  the  previous  season. 

“While  the  prices  of  all  fibres  were  low  last  season,  viz.,  $250  to 
$384  for  blue  and  white  Dutch  and  $192  to  $288  for  Friesland,  they 
have  advanced  markedly  as  a result  of  the  European  war  and  were 
on  December  31,  1914,  $600  to  $744  for  blue  and  white  Dutch  and 
$408  to  $480  for  Friesland.  This  extraordinary  advance  has  been 
caused  by  the  stoppage,  through  the  war,  of  all  supplies  from  Russia, 
which  country  produces  annually  300,000  to  400,000  tons  and  usually 
exports  three-fourths  of  the  crop. 

“During  the  1914-15  season  no  flax  straw  has  been  exported  from 
Holland  to  Belgium  to  be  retted  in  the  River  Lys,  nor  have  the 
Courtrai  scutchers  been  able  to  bring  home  any  of  the  flax  straw 
which  they  had  purchased  in  France.  Notwithstanding  this  there 
would  have  been  a large  production  in  the  Courtrai  district  this  season 
on  account  of  the  unusually  large  stock  of  straw  held  over  from  last 
year,  but  none  of  this  is  now  available  for  the  consuming  countries, 
since  the  Belgian,  and  later  the  German,  authorities  prohibited  its 
exportation  via  Holland,  which  is  the  only  exit.” 


(Extract  from  the  “Frankfurter  Gazette”) 

“Berlin,  February  12.  (Private  telegram.)  As  already  reported  it 
is  intended  to  increase  the  flax  fibre  culture  in  Germany  during  the 
present  year  from  10,000  to  20,000  or  30,000  hektar  (one  hektar  is 
equal  to  two  and  one-half  acres).  In  order  to  render  it  easier  for  the 
farmers  to  produce  the  flax,  the  empire,  together  with  the  industry 
(linen)  offer  a subvention  up  to  40  per  cent  to  all  who  will  establish 
retting  and  scutching  mills.  A bureau  of  information  for  retting  has 
been  established  in  Neusalz  a O.,  which  will  furnish  the  farmers  with 
free  advice,  plans  and  specifications  for  machinery,  and  attend  to  the 
supervision  of  the  building  and  installation  of  plants  and  instruction 
of  the  first  workers.  All  applications  for  subvention  are  to  be 
addressed  to  said  bureau.  The  (linen)  industry  on  their  part  have 
decided  to  immediatly  put  up  a large  number  of  retting  establishments, 
which  will  be  ready  by  the  end  of  July  to  begin  operations.  On  the 
twentieth  of  the  month  the  flax  committee  will  meet  in  Berlin  with  the 
members  of  the  Farmers’  Association  and  Farmers’  Central  Bureau  to 
confer  about  all  further  steps.  The  farmers  will  be  granted  the  right 
to  sell  and  deliver  their  crops  after  the  pulling  of  the  straw.  However, 
the  profit  on  the  retting  and  scutching  processes  has  been  made  suffi- 
ciently large  to  induce  the  farmers  to  attend  to  these  processes  as  well, 
and  thereby  secure  for  themselves  additional  profits. 

“The  prices  for  a good  middle  quality  per  200  pounds  are  fixed  as 
follows: 

“Flax  in  the  straw,  $5.00;  retted,  $8.00;  half  scutched,  $12.50  to 
$15.00;  scutched,  $25.00  to  $35.00;  heckled,  $55.00  to  $60.00. 

“The  War  Association  for  Flax  Culture  has  obtained  seed  in  suffi- 
cient quantities,  which  is  placed  at  the  disposition  of  any  and  all  farmers 
who  are  willing  to  enter  into  a contract  with  the  War  Association.” 


68 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


GREATER  FLAX  CULTURE  IN  SILESIA  PROPOSED 

(Consul  Harry  G.  Seltzer,  Breslau,  March  14) 

“A  speaker  at  a general  assembly  of  the  Landwirtschaftliche  Verein 
at  Breslau  advocated  more  extensive  flax  culture  in  Silesia.  He  stated 
that  it  was  most  important  that  the  fullest  possible  attention  should 
be  paid  to  the  question  of  supplying  textile  raw  materials,  and  it  was 
a national  duty  to  provide  for  a large  supply  of  the  best  fibres  in  time. 

“ ‘The  culture  of  flax  is  possible  in  Germany,’  he  said,  ‘but  it  was 
neglected  before  the  war.  Since  the  whole  nation  has  a strong  interest 
in  the  increase  of  flax  production,  it  would  be  advisable  for  the  govern- 
ment to  enforce  the  cultivation  of  an  area  of  40,000  hectares  (98,842 
acres),  and  at  the  same  time  to  fix  maximum  prices  for  raw  and  retted 
flax,  thus  assuring  its  sale.’ 

“It  is  stated  that  by  the  decreasing  culture  of  sugar  beets  there  will 
be  a greater  area  for  flax  culture.  In  the  province  of  Silesia  this 
decreased  sugar  area  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  33  per  cent  last  year, 
and  this  year  it  is  expected  to  be  about  50  per  cent.  The  German  linen 
industry  is  said  to  need  annually  about  45,000  tons  of  flax,  but  to 
have  only  the  tenth  part  of  it  just  now. 

“ ‘An  emancipation  from  foreign  markets  is  absolutely  necessary 
and  the  prospects  are  favorable  at  present,’  was  a statement  of  the 
speaker  already  quoted.  ’ 


FLAX  PLANTED  IN  OREGON  IN  SPRING  OF  1916 

About  600  acres  of  flax  were  planted  this  year  in  the  vicinity  .of 
Salem.  Seed  was  procured  from  the  State.  The  flax  will  be  harvested 
by  convicts  and  the  straw  will  be  sold  to  the  State  at  $15.00  per  ton. 
The  raising  of  the  flax  is  under  the  supervision  of  a State  expert. 

Private  enterprise  near  Gaston  put  in  100  acres  of  flax,  the  seed 
procured  from  the  State. 

Eugene  Chamber  of  Commerce,  with  the  aid  of  the  Portland 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  has  planted  200  acres,  the  cultivation  of  which 
is  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Eugene  Bosse,  flax  expert. 

Roseburg  has  made  an  experimental  planting  of  about  six  acres. 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


69 


LATEST  REPORT  ON  FLAX  FROM  AMERICAN  CONSUL 
IN  BELFAST,  IRELAND 

The  School  of  Commerce,  University  of  Oregon,  is  just  in  receipt 
of  the  following  report  from  Consul  Hunter  Sharp  of  Belfast,  Ireland, 
in  relation  to  the  conditions  of  the  linen  industry,  prices  of  flax,  etc. 

Prices  of  flax  virtually  doubled  during  the  past  twelve  months. 
Large  supplies  of  Russian  flax  were  received,  while  Dutch  supplies  were 
small,  and  there  were  only  odd  lots  of  Belgian  flaxes  received,  for 
which  high  prices  were  paid,  touching  even  $1,460.00  per  ton.  Russian 
flax  was  on  a basis  of  about  $389.00  per  ton;  Dutch,  $1,314.00;  and 
Irish  flax  as  high  as  $1,168.00. 

Advanced  prices  for  yarns  have  been  responsible  for  stopping  the 
manufacture  of  various  lines  of  linen  goods,  some  of  which,  over  a 
series  of  years,  were  regarded  as  the  steadiest  branch  of  the  business. 
This  is  notable  in  the  case  of  linen  damask,  as  large  numbers  of  looms 
have  been  turned  from  making  pure  linen  varieties  to  that  of  all  cotton 
or  union  cloths. 

The  United  States  occupies  first  place  in  the  purchases  of  linen 
goods,  taking  more  than  half  of  the  total  exports  from  Belfast.  The 
exports  of  linen  goods  to  Canada  from  Ireland  show  a perceptible 
increase  over  1914.  The  total  linen  goods  exported  from  Ireland  in 
1914  to  all  countries  amounted  to  $26,675,101.00;  in  1915, 
$24,027,500.00. 

The  total  value  of  exports  from  Belfast  to  the  United  States  was 
$15,823,964.00  in  1915,  a decrease  of  about  $2,000.00  over  1914. 
Hackled  flax  exported  in  1915  to  the  United  States  amounted  to  over 
$1,000,000.00. 


70 


FLAX  BULLETIN 


INDEX 

Page 

Experiment  Bulletins  3 

Oregon  Advantages  4,  5 

Some  Expert  Opinions  on  the  Possibilities  of  Successful  Flax 

Growing  in  Oregon  5—9 

A Promising  Industry  9,  10 

Eugene  Chamber  of  Commerce  Flax  Report 10,  11 

Extract  from  Annual  Report  of  President  Colt,  of  Portland 

Chamber  of  Commerce 11,  12 

The  Oregon  State  Flax  Project 12 

Observations  by  Dr.  H.  L.  Deimel 13—16 

Early  Efforts  of  Women  to  Establish  the  Flax  Industry  in 

Oregon  16,  17 

Soil  Preparation,  Planting,  Harvesting,  Crop  Rotation 18—22 

Costs,  Productions,  Markets,  Prices,  Profits,  etc 23—30 

Demand  for  Flax 31,  32 

Freight  Rates  32 

Feeding  Value  of  Straw 33 

Extracts  from  Letters 33—42 

Variety  of  Uses  for  Flax 42 

Manufactured  Products  Using  Flax..  _ 43 

Production  in  the  United  States 43,  44 

Imports  into  United  States 44 

Flaxseed  Production,  Commerce  and  Manufacture  in  United 

States  45 

Imports  and  Exports  into  United  States 46,  47 

Flaxseed  47 

Flax  Area  and  Production  of  the  World ..  48 

The  Industry  in  Oil  Seeds 49 

Linseed  Oil  49 

Notes  on  Flax  Production,  Conditions  and  Prices  in  Foreign 

Countries  50-68 

Flax  Planted  in  Oregon  in  Spring  of  1916 68 

Latest  Report  on  Flax  from  American  Consul  in  Belfast,  Ireland..  69 


NOV  S - 1929 


UNJVERS'TY  OF  ILLINOIS 


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